Re-friending of Nanoha
by FoxOnPie
Summary: The story goes that it took Nanoha many tries to defeat Fate before they became as close as they are. However, what if, by some miraculous chance, Fate lost to Nanoha in their first encounter? This is the story of a friendship formed much earlier than expected, and all of the changes that go along with it. Currently in Book of Darkness Arc.
1. An Innocent Start, Nano

**Fox: First, over the course of the last few months, I have been watching **_**Lyrical Nanoha**_**. Then, over the course of the last few months, I have been loving **_**Lyrical Nanoha**_**. Finally, over the course of the last few weeks, I have been tinkering with the idea of a **_**Lyrical Nanoha **_**fanfic. I present you with that story. **

* * *

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release. **

* * *

For Nanoha Takamachi, the idea of having a "normal" day had been discarded from the moment she agreed to become a mage. Well, not exactly "long", as it's only been a few weeks, but still, she's grown to expect the unexpected.

"That's a… big cat…" Nanoha said, apparently not as accustomed to the supernatural as one would think.

"The cat must have had a wish to be big that that Jewel Seed granted," Yuuno, Nanoha's ferret companion said.

"Well, we should take care of it right away. It'd be a big problem for Suzuka-chan if it stayed that size."

_More than just her, you know, _Yuuno thought to himself.

"Looks like it's not going to attack us, so we can seal the Jewel Seed without any trouble." Nanoha pulled the red orb that hung around her neck from out of her shirt. "Raging Heart-"

ZOOM!

Before Nanoha could transform, a yellow beam of light shot out from behind her and Yuuno and hit the giant cat, making it cry in agony.

"Wow! When did you become good enough to do magic without activating your Device?" Yuuno asked.

"That… that wasn't me." Suddenly, a multitude of the yellow beams appeared and hit the cat again, once again making it cry out. "That wasn't me, either."

"But if it wasn't you, then… it must be another mage!"

"What?! Really?!"

"It's the only explanation! I don't know who it could be, or what goal they'd have, but you should transform, just in case."

"Right… Please, Raging Heart!"

"**Standby, ready. Set up." **Nanoha's Device called out, initiating her transformation sequence. Nanoha could feel another attack coming. Not wanting the mystery mage to hurt the innocent cat, Nanoha activated **Flier Fin** and flew over to it. Just like she predicted, more beams appeared.

"**Wide Area Protection." **Pointing her staff in the direction of the blast, Nanoha summoned a large barrier and successfully blocked the attack; when each beam made contact with the barrier, sparks could be seen, leading Nanoha to conclude that it was some sort of electric attack. Unfortunately, the mystery mage fired a single shot outside of Nanoha's range at the cat's foot, causing it to lose balance and fall. Fortunately, she was able to fly off of the cat and land on her feet before it fell.

_That could have been bad, _Nanoha thought. _Just who _is _this person, anyway?_ Two seconds later, Nanoha got her answer when she landed on a tree branch.

The girl had long, blonde hair done in pigtails tied in black ribbons. Her Barrier Jacket appeared to be a black leotard with an attached pink skirt, a triangular yellow jewel on the chest, and a number of maroon belts, black gloves, each with an identical triangular yellow jewel, a dark blue cape, and laced shoes worn over long, black stockings. What stuck out most for Nanoha, though, were the girl's red eyes and how they were sad, yet beautiful. Rather odd that "beautiful" would be something that comes to mind, given the situation, but to each his own.

"...Another mage…" the girl said. "You even have an Intelligent Device like my Bardiche."

"_Bardiche"... _Nanoha thought, noting the black ax-like object in the girl's right hand. _So that's the name of her Device_.

"Mage, the Jewel Seed… the Lost Logia… I'm going to take it, now."

"**Scythe Form, set up," **the girl's Device said. Bardiche's axe head flipped up 90 degrees and a curved blade of golden energy sprung from the gap, causing the Device to resemble a scythe. Grasping it in both hands, the girl jumped at Nanoha in an obvious attempt to slice her.

"**Evasion: Flier Fin," **Raging Heart said, making wings sprout from Nanoha's feet, allowing her to fly into the air and dodge.

_What's with this girl? _Nanoha thought. _She said she wants the Jewel Seed, but she's not even saying why, or asking why _I _want it! Why is she attacking me…_

"**Arc Saber," **Bardiche said, causing its curved blade to fly at Nanoha like a boomerang. Nanoha was able to block with **Protection**, but the girl flew at her with another slash, barely giving Nanoha time to block with her staff.

_Why is she attacking me when we don't know a single thing about each other?! _She glared at the blonde, looking right into her eyes that seemed even deader up close.

"Tell me why you're doing this!"

"Even if I told you… you couldn't possibly understand." That really annoyed Nanoha. She said Nanoha wouldn't understand her reasons, but that was only true because she didn't know them! It didn't make sense!

Realizing that neither girl could physically overpower the other, they separated and went back to where they each were when they first saw one another. Bardiche went back to its default **Device Form**, Raging Heart went into **Shooting Mode**, and each staff was pointed at its owner's opponent.

"**Divine Buster**, Standby!" Nanoha shouted.

"**Photon Lancer**, get set," the stoic girl said. They were each going to fire a spell, but if they did them simultaneously, they'd probably cancel each other out. Rather than immediately start charging mana, Nanoha and the other girl stood still, each waiting for the other one to slip up in some way so a finishing blow could be landed. And the first one to slip up was Nanoha, who turned her head away for a second when she heard the cat cry again.

"I'm sorry…" the mystery girl whispered. She immediately fired a large blast of electricity at Nanoha, creating a large explosion as a result.

* * *

_That should be it_, Fate thought to herself. _Now, I just need to seal the Jewel Seed and- ?!_ Two things interrupted Fate's thought process: the feel of a pointed object prodding itself into her back, and the sound of a spell being charged up.

_It can't be! _When Fate turned around, though, it was confirmed to be exactly what she hoped it wasn't: the auburn-haired girl, floating with **Flier Fin**, had somehow gotten behind her.

* * *

"**Divine Buster**… SHOOT!" Nanoha shouted at the top of her lungs. Before her opponent could get out of the way, or even block, Nanoha blasted her with a giant burst of magic, point-blank, propelling her into a nearby tree which she then bounced off before hitting the ground with a thud. After a few seconds of silence, the girl's Barrier Jacket dissolved and were replaced with black boots and a black one piece.

"You did it, Nanoha!" Yuuno exclaimed.

"Yeah, but it was close," Nanoha said, flying down to where Yuuno was. "I thought I was a goner when she charged her attack; it was too fast for me to defend."

"Good thing _I _was here, though! I was able to use **Transporter **_just_ fast enough to get you out of the way of her attack and place you behind her; she didn't expect a thing!"

"Yeah…" Nanoha seemed a bit melancholy.

"Nanoha?"

"First, let's seal the Jewel Seed." Raging Heart went into **Sealing Mode **as it was pointed at the giant cat. "Lyrical Magical. Jewel Seed Serial IV, Seal!" The cat was surrounded in a bright light. When it faded, it was back to its regular size, the Jewel Seed floating above it briefly before being absorbed into Raging Heart.

"Now… what do we do about _her_, Yuuno-kun?"

"I don't know. That attack wasn't life-threatening, so she'll live, but if we just leave her here, we'll just end up fighting her for Jewel Seeds again in the future."

"Without even knowing why… Yuuno-kun, how old are you?"

"? I'm nine years old."

"Me too. That girl looks like she's nine, as well. She's the same age as us, and yet, her beautiful hair doesn't radiate a bit with life… her beautiful eyes show nothing but sadness…" Yuuno thought it a bit weird that Nanoha was using beautiful to describe this girl, but he kept that to himself. "Why is she like this? What's making her so sad? I want to know these things before I have to fight her again… though, if I knew them, I could even help her."

"So, in short, you want to interrogate her to learn her goals?"

"I wouldn't put it like that, but yes."

"Well, we can't do it now, since she's unconscious. She'll probably wake up in a few hours, but your friends would probably find it suspicious if you stuck around here for that long without giving them a reason."

"So it's basically useless to try anything here. Hmm… Yuuno-kun, can **Transporter **get something to my house from here?"

"? The distance shouldn't be an issue, but you want to do the interrogation _there_? How are you going to pull that off?"

"I have a few ideas."

* * *

Fate awoke hours later in a daze. Looking around, she saw that she was lying on a couch with a blanket over her body in someone's house.

_Where… where am I? _Fate thought to herself. _The last thing I remember was fighting that girl and… and losing. Was that a dream? _Fate tried to sit up, but found it hard to do because of a large amount of pain. _No… that really happened. What happened after that, though?_

"Oh, you're awake, Fate-chan!"

"!" Quickly turning and ignoring the slight pain that came with it, Fate saw that there were other people in the room: four complete strangers, and the girl who had unexpectedly defeated her.

"Did you have a good nap, Fate-chan?" The girl, somehow knowing Fate's name, asked with a grin, making Fate very, very, _very _confused.

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. You Are Not Alone, Nano

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release. **

* * *

**Several hours before Fate's awakening**

After Nanoha, Alisa, and Suzuka finished their tea party, and Kyouya and Shinobu finished having their "alone time", the Takamachi siblings, along with Yuuno, returned home.

"You have a good time, Nanoha?" Kyouya asked his sister as they walked back to their house.

"Yep!" Nanoha said with a smile. "What about you, onii-chan?"

"I did, too."

"Really? It didn't sound like it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Alisa-chan, Suzuka-chan and I heard a lot of yelling and moaning from Shinobu-san's room. Were you two fighting?"

"Oh! Um… well…" Kyouya started to look really flustered. "You see, Nanoha, Shinobu and I were, um… playing a videogame! Yeah, that's it! It was this really intense fighting game, and all the yelling and moaning was from, um… the game being really hard! 'Cause we were doing story mode! And story mode is co-op! Yeah, all those things!"

"...Sounds cool!"

_Thank you, Gods, for blessing me with such an innocently naive little sister!_ As Kyouya continued to pat himself on the back for concealing his sex life, he and Nanoha had finally reached their house, but they stopped when they saw a blonde-haired girl lying against the outer wall.

"That girl… she looks hurt!" Kyouya yelled as he ran over to her, Nanoha right behind him.

_Nyahaha_, Nanoha laughed internally. _All according to keikaku_("Keikaku" means "plan")_. Phase 1: Before onii-chan and I leave Suzuka-chan's house, Yuuno-kun goes back to the girl and uses __**Transporter **__to get her to our house. Phase 2: Establish a connection to get her inside. Phase 3: Get all the information we can out of her. Phase 4: ...Really, that one's dependent on Phase 3, so I'll leave it blank._

_So Phase 2, now?_ Yuuno asked, telepathically.

_Yes. _"Oh no! That's my friend!"

"You know this girl, Nanoha?" Kyouya asked. "Who is she?"

"She's…" _CRAP! _In all of her planning, Nanoha forgot a crucial detail: she didn't know this girl's name. _What do I do, Yuuno-kun?!_

_Don't look at me! _Yuuno thought back. You're _the one who didn't let me help with forming the plan!_

_Fate, _a mysterious voice said in both of their heads.

_?_

_What?_

_Was that you, Yuuno-kun?_

_No…_

_This child's name is Fate Testarossa, _the voice said again. _Treat her kindly, won't you?_

_...Are you gonna use it, Nanoha? _Yuuno asked.

_It's the only thing we can go on, so… _"She's Fate Testarossa-chan! I met her a few weeks ago in the park, and we've been hanging out ever since!"

"I've never seen her with your friends from school."

"She goes to a super fancy school on the other side of town. Also, Fate-chan's socially awkward, so I haven't been able to introduce her to Alisa-chan and Suzuka-chan yet."

"Is that right?" Kyouya seemed a little skeptical, but he pushed it aside, labeling it as simply a response to "Fate" being a stranger. "We should probably get her to the hospital."

"We can't!"

"Why not?"

"Fate-chan doesn't have health insurance. Not only that, but she's a Canadian immigrant who came here to study, and she doesn't have a green card. If we take her to the hospital, the doctors might report her to the police, and she'll get deported!"

"...Alright. She doesn't look _too _hurt; she'll probably be fine after some rest."

"That's good…"

"How did this happen, though?"

"I bet she was hit by a motorcycle being driven by a rowdy street punk!"

"Damn those rowdy street punks! I thought they would leave this neighborhood alone after Miyuki and I killed their boss!"

"What?"

"I mean got him arrested. I mean killed him. No, wait, the second one was right."

"Um…"

"Anyway, let's get Fate into the house!"

* * *

**Present time**

Fate was told everything of the aforementioned seen as seen through "Kyouya's" perspective.

_This "Nanoha" girl is smarter than I thought_, Fate thought. _I don't get how she knew my name, but she quickly established a very believable explanation for who I am and how we would know each other; it especially works since this is her... family… _

"Are you feeling better, Fate-chan?" Nanoha's mother, "Momoko", asked.

_...I can't get in touch with Arf, so that ferret must have put up a barrier in case I had allies. For now, I need to go along with this._"Yes, I'm fine, Momoko-san," Fate responded. "The… street punk's bike just clipped me a bit, so I took a little rest. I must have slept longer than I thought."

"You sure had us scared, though!" Nanoha's sister, "Miyuki" said. "What were you doing here, anyway?"

"I was… um…"

"She was paying me a visit!" Nanoha exclaimed. "But Fate-chan didn't know that I was out of the house. I guess it's sort of my fault that she got hurt, then…"

"Don't apologize. It was the kind of situation where not getting hurt would be impossible," Fate responded, realizing that Nanoha was alluding to their fight, prompting her to do the same.

"Well then, Nanoha, how about you and Fate go up to your room?" Nanoha's father, "Shirou", asked. "Dinner will be ready soon; we'll call you down when it is."

"Okay, Dad!" Nanoha said. "Come on, Fate-chan!"

"...Right…" Fate barely managed to say as Nanoha helped her off the couch and led her upstairs. As they walked, Fate could've sworn she heard Shirou whisper something about "swords" and "covering tracks" to Kyouya and Miyuki.

* * *

"Yuuno-kun, please heal Fate-chan; she looks like she's still in pain," Nanoha requested as she and Fate entered her room and sat down opposite of one another.

"Alright," Yuuno replied, putting a paw on Fate's leg and casting **Physical Heal**.

"...Thank you," Fate said, averting her gaze.

"Um… sorry that we had to get introduced to each other based around lies," Nanoha said.

"How did you even know my name?"

"I'm… not sure."

"?"

"Anyway! Let's do this right!" Nanoha took in a deep breath. "My name is Nanoha Takamachi. I'm a third grader at Seishou Elementary School. About a month ago, I met Yuuno-kun, and he told me that he was from a world of magic called Mid-Childa where he comes from a clan of archaeologists. While on an archaeological dig, Yuuno-kun found 21 crystals called 'Jewel Seeds', which, if left alone, can be very dangerous for everyone around them. Yuuno-kun had them put on a ship to be safely put away, but the ship was attacked and crashed here on Earth. Yuuno-kun wanted to get them back himself, but he got hurt and needed help; that's when I became involved."

"So you're hunting the Jewel Seeds in order to help your friend and protect your town?" Fate asked as Yuuno finished **Physical Heal**. Nanoha nodded in response. "How noble..."

"So why do _you _want them, Fate-chan?"

"I feel no obligation to tell you."

"But I told you _my _reason!"

"And I just healed you!" Yuuno pointed out.

"Yuuno, was it? I appreciate that kindness. However, our goals lead onto opposite paths; a compromise could never be met. This has changed nothing, and the next time we meet, _I _will be the victor." Fate got up and turned to the door.

"It'd be hard to beat me without your Device, don't you think?" Nanoha asked. Fate immediately froze where she stood. She quickly stuck her hands into her skirt pockets, looking surprised to find them empty. She materialized the gloves from her Barrier Jacket, looking even more surprised that there wasn't a jewel in the right glove.

"Where is Bardiche?" Fate asked with a sense of urgency.

"Nyahaha. After I beat you, Fate-chan, I found your Device in your pocket and figured that it could be a good bargaining chip. Bardiche is now hidden somewhere in the house, and I'll only tell you where after you tell me what you're after them for!"

"...Like I said before, you wouldn't understand."

"But that's only because you won't tell me!"

"Your story basically confirmed my statement to be true!"

"?"

"You… you weren't forced into doing this. Yuuno simply asked if you wanted to do it, and you said yes. I… I don't have a choice."

"...So you're saying… you don't actually _want _to capture the Jewel Seeds?"

"..."

"Is that why you look so sad?"

"...I-"

"Dinner time!" Momoko called out.

"We can keep talking after dinner," Nanoha said. "You are hungry, right?"

GROOOOOOOOOOWL

"...Maybe a little," Fate said.

* * *

Fate had no idea what was going on back there. This "Nanoha" girl had basically kidnapped her, was clearly getting in the way of her mission, and she was almost on the verge of spilling her guts to her. Now she was even being forced to have dinner with her family! This, though, didn't warrant as big a complaint.

"Hey…" Fate said to Nanoha as everyone sat down. "Do you do _this_… a lot?"

"You mean sit down for a family dinner?" Nanoha asked. "Most nights. You never do that with _your_ family… in Canada?"

"...Not really…" Fate only remembered having something like this once in her life: the dinner she had with Precia as per Linith's last request.

"Well I hope we'll do in their place!" Kyouya smirked. Everyone sans Fate exclaimed "Itadakimasu!" and started eating.

"..." Fate looked down at her meal with feelings of uncertainty. There was a bowl of rice put out on the side, and in front of her was a plate containing various greens and some fried meat. The fried meat seemed the most enticing, so Fate decided to eat a piece of it, first. After the first bite, though, it seemed like, for Fate, that the entire world was born anew.

_DELICIOUS! _Fate thought as she ate piece after piece of meat.

"_Someone _seems to like my cooking," Momoko said.

"This is incredible, Momoko-san! I've never tasted something this good! ...Miyuki-san, the last piece on your plate looks bigger than the last piece on mine; would you mind switching with me?"

"There's plenty more, Fate-chan!" Momoko said, pointing to the other plate of meat on the table. "You must really love karaage."

"'Karaage'? _This _is karaage? Then what have I been eating at that convenience store?!"

"'Convenience store'?" Miyuki parroted. "You get karaage from convenience stores?"

"I get most of my food there, actually."

"That's no good!" Momoko declared. "You're a growing girl; you can't eat crap like that all the time!" Momoko then picked up the plate of karaage and started scooping more pieces onto Fate's plate, an act that pleased her greatly.

"Hey, you're giving her all the big pieces!" Shirou whined.

"Fate-chan needs to get big and strong."

"And _I _don't?" Nanoha asked. The Takamachi's then went off into a myriad of quips and jokes while Fate did something she honestly didn't remember ever doing: she laughed.

* * *

"Gochisousama," Fate said after their meal. "That was a great meal."

"Do you really think that, Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked. "It looks like most of it got on your face." Putting a hand to her cheek, Fate realized that her face was covered in grease from the karaage and became embarrassed.

"Let me help you with that," Momoko said. Before Fate could say anything, the woman had already taken a towel and started wiping her face clean. "There. All better."

"..."

"?"

"..." Fate just stood there for a second before she, unexpectedly, ran upstairs to Nanoha's room and slammed the door shut.

"Fate-chan?"

"What was _that _about?" Kyouya wondered.

"Who knows," Miyuki added.

"You should probably go after her, Nanoha," Shirou said.

"R-Right!" With that, Nanoha quickly ran to her room.

* * *

When Nanoha opened the room, she was surprised to see that Fate was sitting on the ground in a fetal position with her back to the door.

"She just ran in here and put herself like that," Yuuno said from atop Nanoha's desk. "What happened downstairs, anyway?"

"I don't know…" Nanoha responded. "Fate-chan?"

"...It's all different," the blonde said.

"? What is?"

"They laugh with each other, they have fun with each other… they want to _be _with each other… it's all different from what I know. Is this… what a family is supposed to be like…?"

"What do you-"

"My mother is the one making me gather the Jewel Seeds."

"!" Nanoha and Yuuno were shocked to find Fate laying out her goals for them.

"She won't tell me why, though. I'm just supposed to get them all, no questions asked, and she expects me to be fine with that… like my own thoughts don't matter.

"Mother… she's never once shown me the kindness that I've felt today. No matter what I do, she always looks at me like… like… like I'm some sort of mistake! Even though I've never done anything wrong! But then… she told me that only _I _could get the Jewel Seeds for her. She was actually putting her faith in me..."

"So… the reason you're after the Jewel Seeds is so you can make your mother happy?" Yuuno asked.

"Yes… That's exactly it…"

"That won't work, Fate-chan," Nanoha said.

"...What?"

"You said that your mom's never been nice to you, right? If that's true, why would this change anything?"

"...Don't…"

"From what you just said, it sounds like she's manipulating you, Fate-chan. Your mom never showed you any love, but she knew that you wanted it, so she's taking advantage of that to force into cooperating."

"...Don't you…"

"Even if you succeed, nothing will change, Fate-chan. Your mom, just like before… won't love you." Fate stood up and turned to Nanoha, revealing that she was crying.

"Don't you think I already know that?! From the very beginning, I knew that she never loved me! But even so, she's my mother! Even if there's a 1/2578917 chance of this even getting her to _smile_, I'd still do it!"

"But there's no point! It won't work at all!"

"Shut up! SHUT UP! _This _is what I was talking about! Someone like you, who's never known loneliness and suffering, could never understand me!"

"...You're wrong, Fate-chan. I _do_ understand you." Fate and Yuuno gave her confused looks.

"Before he fully committed to the cafe, my dad was a samurai bodyguard; onii-chan and Miyuki-nee-san, as well. Six years ago, while guarding a friend of my siblings, Fiasse Crystela-san, he was caught in a big explosion that left him on ICU for months; onii-chan and Miyuki-nee-san both agreed to quit after that.

"With my dad in the hospital, my family had to spend most of their time running the cafe, something that went from being a front for our true business to our only means of support. I was too young to help, so I always had to stay upstairs… alone.

"It's not just that, though. Mom and Dad have the kind of closeness that's exclusive to married couples, my siblings are a lot older than me and share things with each other that they never would with me… even my best friends, Alisa-chan and Suzuka-chan… the bond between the _two_ of them is much stronger than the bond between the _three_ of us, even though _I'm_ the reason we're friends in the first place! No matter where I am, I'm nothing but a third wheel!"

"Nanoha…" Yuuno said while Fate stood there in stunned silence.

"You're still right, though, Fate-chan; I don't really understand you. Even though I'm saying this stuff, it's not like I'm unloved, or anything; I don't have a single reason to feel lonely… and yet… this sad feeling, this painful feeling… this feeling of not having a place where I belong..." Nanoha cried as she clutched her chest, "I can't do anything about it…!" The auburn-haired girl walked up to the blonde and embraced her.

"You're all alone… I'm all alone… but if we're alone together, it won't be so bad, right, Fate-chan?"

"...Yeah…" Fate said, returning the embrace. "It won't be bad at all… Nanoha…"

* * *

Outside of the window, He watched all of this. He was completely unnoticed by the three mages for reasons unknown. He took it all in down to the last detail and smiled. Why He did this was a mystery even to Him. It was just a scene involving Fate, after all. He never took an interest in Alicia, so, logically, He had no reason to take an interest in that woman's failed attempt to revive her. Really, He was probably just killing time; this whole thing bored Him immensely, after all.

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Just Where is the Respect, Nano?

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release. **

* * *

After their touching moment together, Nanoha returned Bardiche to Fate; as it turned out, it was in her pocket the whole time. Nanoha said that she was free to leave, but Fate said that she wanted to spend the night on the grounds of how late it was. So after apologizing to Nanoha's family for running like that(she said that she had to send a really important email back home to Canada), Fate spent the night sleeping on the floor of Nanoha's bedroom.

* * *

"So, Fate, did you have a good night's sleep?" Shirou asked at breakfast.

"Yes," Fate said. "Though the floor could've been more comfortable."

"You should have offered her your bed, Nanoha!" Miyuki said.

"That wasn't very nice of you," Momoko pointed.

"Hey! It's not like that!" Nanoha exclaimed. "I _did _offer Fate-chan my bed, but she didn't want it!"

"I didn't want to impose any further," Fate said.

"You're our guest; you have the right to impose!"

"And I chose not to execute that right."

"Geez!" Nanoha exclaimed with a slight chuckle.

_Look at those two_, Yuuno thought as he observed from atop the coffee table. _It's hard to believe that Fate was trying to kill Nanoha just yesterday with them acting all friendly._

"But seriously, Fate," Kyouya started, "you didn't have to- ...what is that?"

"What is what?" Shirou asked.

"Outside." Kyouya pointed to the window overlooking the street and everyone turned to see what he saw; he was right in thinking what he saw was odd. Outside their house was a woman walking on all fours with her nose to the ground who was dressed in rather skimpy clothing and had animal-like features.

"What is she? Some sort of cosplayer?" Miyuki asked.

"Oh boy…" Fate said, slamming her head against the table to hide her look of embarrassment.

"You know her, Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes. Her name's Arf. She's… my neighbor in the apartment complex I'm staying at. She acts like my guardian in my parents' absence and, as you can tell, she's a bit of a weirdo."

_She's my familiar, an animal that I bestowed magical abilities onto, _Fate thought to Nanoha and Yuuno, adding the last part for Nanoha's sake. _I wasn't able to go home last night, or even contact her; she must be worried sick_. "I think that this is a sign for me to leave."

* * *

"I'll be back soon. If you don't hear from me by nightfall, you can leave the apartment." That was what Fate had said to Arf yesterday when she went to seal a Jewel Seed. Like she had instructed, Arf stayed in the apartment, waiting for her master to return successful, hopefully with a treat. She waited and waited and waited… and then the sun set.

Arf had no idea what to think. It should have been an extremely simple thing, yet Fate had been gone for hours. She immediately bolted out of the apartment and tracked Fate's scent to someone's backyard. The scent seemed to bounce all around the air, slammed into a tree, and just stopped on the ground. This led the familiar to one conclusion: Fate was fighting another mage, was beaten, and was teleported away to somewhere.

Arf's panic increased even further. She knew that it wasn't someone from the TSAB, since they had _just _arrived on Earth, so it must be a native to the planet. Arf read up on Earth before she and Fate came there, and she knew the kinds of things the men on this planet did to cute little girls like Fate… this thought prompted her to do an immediate sweep of the city. After hours of nothing, she eventually found Fate's scent in another location: in front of a house.

_In here?! Is Fate in this house?! _Arf thought to herself. Her question was answered when she saw her master exit the house with a look of embarrassment.

"Fate!" Arf called out with a smile. That smile, though, turned into shock when she saw five other people exit the building(the youngest of them had a ferret on her left shoulder). "I knew it! Fate was kidnapped and defiled by men!"

"What?!" The two men exclaimed.

"And apparently some women were in on the gangbanging, too!"

"What?!" The eldest females exclaimed, the youngest one looking confused by Arf's word choice.

"I'll save you, Fate!" Arf ran towards her master at full speed… only to slam into a wall of magic energy.

* * *

_Oh yeah, the barrier's still up, _Yuuno thought to himself.

"This won't stop meeee!" Arf shouted as she ran at the barrier and threw a punch.

_Now's as good a time as any to take it down, I guess. _Yuuno took down his barrier seconds before Arf would've punched it, causing her to lose her balance, trip, and fall into a roll that led her to everyone's feet.

"Arf…" Fate started, "I don't know what this 'gangbanging' thing is that you mentioned, but these people did nothing to me besides provide hospitality after I was in an accident. I lost my cellphone yesterday, and I was enjoying my time here so much that I forgot to call you."

_What are you _talking _about, Fate?! _Arf said to her via telepathy.

_This girl, Nanoha Takamachi, _Fate responded, glancing towards the other little girl, _is a mage who defeated me in battle yesterday. She brought me to her house to learn of my goals, and I couldn't leave because she stole Bardiche and had that magic ferret put up a barrier._

_So she's the enemy, then?_

_No. She's… a friend. We're going to leave her alone._

_...Alright. If that's what you want, Fate, then I'm okay with it. _Arf then picked herself up from the ground. "I'm sorry for jumping to such extreme conclusions."

"'Extreme' is putting it lightly…" Shirou said under his breath. "I'm guessing you want to take Fate home."

"Yes. Are you ready to leave, Fate?"

"Yes," Fate said. "Nanoha, Momoko-san, everyone… thank you for having me."

"No problem, Fate-chan!" Nanoha said.

"Here; take this with you," Momoko said, handing the girl a triangular bundle. "I made you some karaage onigiri for lunch."

"Really?!" Fate immediately went to open it, but stopped when Momoko smacked her hand.

"Not until lunch time."

"Sorry. Goodbye, now." Fate then followed Arf away from the house, smiling as she heard the Takamachis all saying goodbye to her. When the two of them turned a corner on the street, Fate started to unwrap the bundle again, but stopped when a ladle came dangerously close to hitting her in the back of the head.

"I _said _not until lunch time!"

* * *

"You know, Fate, if you want to eat those rice balls, then you should just eat them, already," Arf said to Fate back in the apartment as she watched her master stare at the food "Momoko" gave to her with a bit of drool.

"I can't," Fate said. "Momoko-san said it's for lunch, and it's only 10:30."

"She's not even here."

"I don't want to upset her again!"

"Then stop killing yourself by staring at it, already!"

"Fine!" Fate carefully placed the food in the fridge; out of sight, out of mind.

_I really don't understand what's happening! Fate just met those people and she's already incredibly attached to them, especially to that girl who beat her up! ...Well… I guess it's fine. I mean, she _is _the only one Fate's ever called a "friend". _"So what now, Fate? It's obvious that you won't want to fight that 'Nanoha' girl, so are we going to get her to help us, or something?"

"No, Arf. I'm quitting the Jewel Seed hunt."

"What?! After one day?! Good luck telling your mother! ...Oh my god, you're going to tell her that, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"But Fate, you know that saying something like that will get her really angry; probably angrier than she's ever been! And when that woman's angry…"

"I'm… I'm aware of what might happen. Still, though… this is something I have to do, Arf. Do I have your support?"

"...Begrudgingly."

"Thank you. Dimensional Transfer. Dimensional Coordinates: 4369 8C54 1243 D705 4628 9914E 33F B9260."

"We're going now?!" Arf asked as a magic circle appeared beneath their feet.

"Open, O Door of Invitation to the Garden of Time, to the household of the Testarossa family!" In an instant, the two of them were gone."

* * *

To say that Fate was nervous was an understatement as she stood before the door to Precia's throneroom. This woman had been an absolute terror for Fate her entire life, and now she was going to flat out refuse to do the biggest thing she had ever asked of her; Precia often snapped at her over the simplest things, so something like this could send her off the deep end, for sure.

_Yes, I'm truly, utterly afraid to do what I'm about to do… _Fate thought as she shook in front of the door. _But… if I just let myself sink into my own fear… then nothing will ever change. I'll always stay a weak girl, longing for something that will never be. Nanoha reached out to me, made me realize this… I can't let that go to waste! _The young mage took a deep breath and stopped shaking. She then turned her head towards Arf, gave her a look that said, "I'll be back soon", and opened the door.

* * *

"Fate…" Precia started as she glared at her "daughter", "did a dozen Jewel Seeds activate yesterday? That must be it, because I _distinctly_ remember telling you not to return here until you obtain a significant amount!"

"No, only one activated yesterday," Fate said, a look of confidence in her eyes that reminded Precia of Alicia; it was so startling that she didn't immediately whip her.

"So… do you _have _it?"

"No. It was taken by a mage native to Earth. And it will be the last one she takes from me."

"...What? Are you saying that you're giving up?!"

"Yes." Precia immediately whipped her across the face.

"How _dare _you even _consider _such actions! Don't you have an ounce of respect for me?!"

"...What about you?"

"?"

"Mother… my whole life, I've only wanted you to appreciate me… to love me… to smile at me the same way you used to…"

_I never smiled at you; those are _Alicia's _memories, you annoying doll._

"I've done everything you've ever asked of me, yet you've never granted a single wish of mine. I used to tell myself that I just needed to wait a bit longer, and things would change…"

_You will have to wait a _very _long time, then._

"But then… Nanoha, the mage who beat me… she brought me into her home... and let me be with her family. That kind of joy, that kind of happiness, that kind of love… maybe I felt it from Linith, but I've never once felt it from you!"

_Linith… that insufferable cat… _"What exactly are you getting at, Fate?"

"What I'm trying to say is… you aren't my mother."

"!" _What?! That's absolutely true, but to think that she would have the gall…_

"I remember you being nice until I was five, but the way you've been after that makes it hard to believe that those things happened… like those memories are someone else's. Those five years don't match up with reality, so I can't rely on them for anything!"

"Fate…" Precia increased the grip on her Device.

"The way her family acts is the way a family is supposed to act, but we've never been like that… _you've _never been like that. So… you can't be my mother."

_...Of course not. You're nothing more than a failure, Fate. I should know this already… so why does her saying all of this hurt...?_

"Where's my real mother?!" Fate shouted in anguish.

_You… don't have one._

"Where's my father?! Tell me!"

_...Father…? Your... father? ...Alicia's… father?! _Precia rose from her throne, walked over to Fate, and blasted her to the floor with **Thunder Rage**.

"You insolent little brat!" Precia cast **Thunder Rage **again. And again. And again. And again. "First you fail to complete such a simple task, and then you have the _nerve _to say such things to me?! Without me, you're nothing! Absolutely nothing but filth! Trash! Garbage! If I tell you to do something, you will do it without question!" Precia halted her magic and lifted up Fate's face with her staff. "You're going to go back to that little blue rock and get every last Jewel Seed. If you do that, Fate, then I will be most pleased with you. Do you understand?"

"...Y… Yes…" Fate somehow managed to say. After she did, though, Precia blasted her with another **Thunder Rage**.

_...Na… Nano… ha… _Fate thought as she lost consciousness.

"'Pleased with you' eh? There's no way that will happen, you filthy piece of trash. All you can ever be before me is a pitiful mess. Even then, you'll try and hide by kissing my ass in an attempt to make me laugh; how typical of scum!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. Necessary Assistance, Nano

**Fox: The other day, my library was having a **_**Yu-Gi-Oh! **_**tournament, and I won a Kaiba Starter Deck! I'm finally able to screw the rules!**

**Pie: ...Anyway, here's the next chapter. **

* * *

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release. **

* * *

It was May 6, Earth year 2006, Mid-Childan New Calendar 0065. There were only two days left in Golden Week, so the Takamachis, along with Alisa, Suzuka, Shinobu, and the Tsukimura maids, Noel and Farin, were going to a hot spring for the weekend. Everyone could hardly contain their excitement, but Nanoha had something on her mind other that taking a relaxing soak: Fate. It had been two weeks since Nanoha met the melancholy girl and became friends with her. Since then, though, she hadn't seen her once. The Earth mage was a bit worried, but she still hoped that she'd see Fate again, somehow.

_You should try and relax a bit, Nanoha, _Yuuno said to her via Telepathy.

_But I'm worried, _Nanoha thought back. _It's been two weeks, and I haven't seen or heard from her._

_Well, she doesn't have a cellphone, so she couldn't call you. Plus, you two never agreed on meeting up with each other at any point. Not only that, but Fate didn't seem like the most social of girls; she probably doesn't know how to approach you. _

…_Huh. Good point. Why didn't I realize this while I was feeling depressed?!_

_You're nine. Granted, you're incredibly mature, but you're still at the age where candy can distract you from everything else in the world._

_What's that about candy? _Yuuno brought his paw to his face.

_Look, how about I do a big sweep of Uminari when we get back to try and find Fate?_

_Really? You'll help me find Fate-chan?_

_Yeah, why not? You two seem really happy around each other, so it'd be stupid _not _to help with that. If you're happy, then I'm happy._

_Thank you, Yuuno-kun!_

* * *

Later that night, while Nanoha slept in her room, she jolted awake when she and Yuuno simultaneously felt a Jewel Seed activate. Quickly stuffing her futon with a dummy that had a "Heno moheji" face, Nanoha ran to where the Jewel Seed was, Yuuno right behind her. It was traced to a wooden bridge, but when they got there, they saw something very unexpected.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha cheered as she saw her friend. Indeed, Fate was standing on the bridge, the Jewel Seed held carefully in her fingers. Upon hearing her name, the blonde turned her head, revealing to Nanoha a purple jewel embedded into her forehead.

"? What's that on your forehead, Fate-chan?"

"...Nothing…" Fate said, her voice lacking the warmth it had gained two weeks ago. "Just a decoration…"

"Oh… well, thank you for getting the Jewel Seed for me, Fate-chan!"

"..."

"If we're working together, then sealing all of them will be a lot easier!"

"..."

"Oh! You know what else, Fate-chan?"

"..."

_Something seems… off… _Yuuno thought.

"You should give me your address so I can come visit you!" Nanoha exclaimed. "I can even bring Alisa-chan and Suzuka-chan; I'm sure you'll love them!"

"..."

"**Glaive Form**," Bardiche said, its axe head flipping up 180 degrees and extending away from the handle, releasing three wings of energy from below the base, giving it a spear-like appearance. Immediately afterwards, Fate threw the Jewel Seed into the yellow orb at the center of her Device.

"? What are you-"

"**Piercing Lancer**." Fate launched herself at Nanoha with incredible speed, the tip of her weapon pointed at her chest. Nanoha was too stunned to put up a defense, but Yuuno was able to cast **Round Shield **in time to protect her.

"What's the big idea, Fate?!" Yuuno shouted. He then activated **Barrier Burst**, detonating his shield and pushing her back.

"Don't interfere."

"After you just attacked Nanoha, even after all that happened two weeks ago?!"

"..."

"Fate-chan…" Nanoha started. "I thought you weren't going after the Jewel Seeds, anymore. I thought… I thought we were friends… and we could make each other not… feel so alone… Was that all a lie, Fate-chan?!"

"...Nanoha…" Before Fate could say anything else, a purple light shone out from the Jewel in her forehead. "Agh… AGHHHHH!"

"Fate-chan?!"

"**Device Form**," Bardiche said, going back to its default form. In the midst of her apparent pain, Fate pointed Bardiche at Nanoha and Yuuno. "**Photon Lancer**." Four orbs of electricity appeared in the air and were fired at Nanoha and Yuuno at a speed too fast to be blocked, knocking them both back. When the spell finished, the light faded, and Fate was breathing heavily.

* * *

"That's right, Fate, just try and defy me, now," Precia said with a smirk as she watched the fight on a computer monitor in her lab. "That jewel in your forehead is a weapon for psychological warfare of my own design. Whenever I turn a dial from here, it will emit a light matching the light from my magic. The light will remind you of the excruciating pain I inflicted upon you when you tried to disobey me, and it won't fade until _I _allow it to! I'll try to be careful not to destroy your mind with it!"

* * *

"Fate...chan…" Nanoha managed to say as she and Yuuno got up.

"Please… just let it be like this…" Fate begged as she turned and flew away. But before she was even a meter off the ground, the light shone again, shining even brighter than before. "AGGGGGHHHHH!" The light made the memory of that barrage of **Thunder Rage**'s resurface even more vividly than before.

* * *

"I won't let you leave like that, Fate," Precia said. "That's the girl who defeated you. If you let her leave, she'll just get in our way." The evil matriarch leaned over to a microphone. "Can you hear me, Fate? I'm speaking into your mind through that jewel. Your mother doesn't want that girl, Nanoha, around anymore, so…"

* * *

_...destroy her, here and now, or allow your mind to be completely obliterated!_ Fate couldn't believe what her mother had just told her to do. She actually wanted Fate to destroy Nanoha, to _kill _Nanoha. There was no way that she'd want to do it, to do away with her first true friend, but she just couldn't bare the pain. It made Fate sick to her stomach to realize how weak she was.

"...I'm sorry…" Fate said as tears streaked her face. Bardiche went into **Scythe Form** as Fate launched herself at Nanoha with **Scythe Slash**. Yuuno tried to cast a spell, but Fate removed her left hand from the staff and cast **Lightning Bind** on the ferret, immobilizing him.

_Dammit! _Yuuno cursed, internally. "Nanoha!" Fate was now right in striking range.

"**Flier Fin. Flash Move,**" Raging Heart said as wings appeared on Nanoha's feet and she zipped behind Fate. "**Flash Impact.**" Nanoha swung her staff at Fate's back, knocking her aside with a small explosion. Fate quickly got up, but the purple light shone again, causing her to scream.

_The light from that jewel… it must be why Fate-chan's doing this! It's hurting her! _Nanoha thought as the light faded.

"Please… I don't want to fight…" Fate cried, pointing Bardiche at Nanoha.

"I know you don't. That's why…" Nanoha activated **Divine Shooter**, "I'm going to end this fast!" The cherry blossom orbs quickly flew at Fate.

"**Defenser,**" Bardiche said, forming a barrier around his master. Unfortunately, it wasn't strong enough to completely block Nanoha's attack and started cracking. Noticing that it wouldn't hold for another attack, Fate dispelled the barrier and flew out of it into the air, Nanoha right on her tail.

"**Blitz Action**," Bardiche said. In an instant, Fate disappeared from Nanoha's sight.

"**Behind you, Master**," Raging Heart said. Nanoha didn't need to turn around to know that Fate was there. Before Fate could attack, she cast **Flash Move** to get behind Fate, but then Fate got behind Nanoha with **Blitz Action**, then Nanoha her with **Flash Move**, then Fate her with **Blitz Action**, then Nanoha broke the pattern by doing an about-face and charging mana into a ball in front of her right hand.

"!" Fate jumped back and copied Nanoha's action with her left hand.

"**Shoot Barret,**" Raging Heart said as Nanoha fired her orb.

"**Thunder Bullet,**" Bardiche said as Fate fired her orb. The two attacks collided and cancelled each other out, creating a smokescreen. Taking advantage of this, Nanoha quickly flew at Fate and hit her arm with the top of her staff, causing her to drop Bardiche to the ground far below.

"No!" Fate shouted. Then, before she knew it, Nanoha's hand was right in front of her face.

"**Strike Smasher**!" Nanoha shouted, blasting Fate with a large burst of magic.

* * *

"Interesting," Precia said to herself. "This Nanoha girl has much less experience compared to Fate, but she's very quick on her feet, and her sheer raw power is tremendous. However…" Precia turned the dial even more, "that shouldn't be an excuse for getting hit."

* * *

The purple light shone with an even greater intensity than before, causing Fate to scream in a very terrified manner. Ignoring the mental pain as best as she could, Fate flew to right in front of Nanoha as her arms became covered in electricity.

"**Plasma Arm**!" Fate shouted before giving Nanoha a shocking left hook followed by a jab with her right. Raging Heart tried to use **Auto Guard **to cast **Protection**, but Fate's fists broke through and she kept wailing, both on Nanoha and literally. Fate then grabbed Nanoha in a tight bear hug and flew to the ground like a rocket, slamming her into it so hard that a small crater was formed.

"Nanoha!" Yuuno shouted, still unable to escape from Fate's bind.

"..." The blonde let go of Nanoha, kicked Raging Heart away, stepped out of the crater, and walked over to where Bardiche fell to pick him up, but stopped when she felt a hand tug on her cape. Already knowing why, Fate turned around to see Nanoha barely standing, pulling on her cape and giving Fate a look that she didn't want to see.

"Why… won't you… go down?!" Fate cast **Plasma Arm **again and dealt Nanoha an uppercut, but she stood her ground. Fate then started to punch Nanoha repeatedly. "Why are so persistent?! Why can't you just let me be?! Why… why… why are you looking at me with a smile?!" Fate threw another punch, but this time, Nanoha caught it.

"Because… you're my friend…!" Nanoha said. "You were my friend the day we met, you were my friend the day after, and you're my friend now. If you have to hit me so you can smile again, Fate-chan, then hit me as much as you want! I don't mind one bit!"

"!"

"Well, Fate-chan?! Don't you have to keep hitting me?!"

"..." Fate picked up Bardiche and pointed him at Nanoha. She didn't launch an attack, though; she just stood there, staring at Nanoha's adamant eyes. Finally, though, Fate cast **Thunder Smasher** from her Device… nowhere near Nanoha.

"It's not fair… It's not fair…" Fate fell to her knees and cried. "Why am I so weak…? Even when I tried to be strong… I just got reminded… of how pathetic I am… of how weak I am…"

"That's not true! You're not weak, Fate-chan! You're the strongest person I know! Sure, it might not have gone how you wanted when you decided to stop hunting Jewel Seeds, but you told your mom that you didn't want to do it, right?" Fate nodded her head. "It was something you didn't want to do, but instead of giving in and complying, you stood up for yourself and got your true thoughts across. Even if you knew you would get hurt, someone who can stand up for themselves like that…" Nanoha bent down and hugged Fate, "is the strongest person there is!"

* * *

"And that's enough of that," Precia said, turning the dial to nearly the maximum distance. She watched the light return and waited for Fate to scream, but to her surprise, she didn't, at all.

* * *

"I… I _am_ strong…" Fate said to Nanoha. "I'm too strong to be pushed around… too strong to be treated like dirt… and too strong…" Fate moved Nanoha's arms away as she stood up triumphantly, "to let myself look so weak!"

* * *

"What?!" Precia shouted. "She's… _resisting_?! This can't be! ...Well, then, Fate, you've left me no choice but to set the output to maximum capacity. It might destroy your mind and kill you in the process, though… but then again, this life shouldn't have been yours, in the first place." With a foul grin, the evil matriarch turned the dial all the way to the highest setting, gazing at the monitor all the while to see her "daughter's" final moments. However, her face quickly morphed into one of shock when she saw that the light wasn't intensifying, but vanishing. "WHAT?!"

_"__Are_ _you listening to this, Fate's mother?" _Nanoha's voice asked from the monitor. "_You won't be bullying Fate-chan, my friend, anymore! She's not so weak that she'll just let you do whatever you want, anymore! And if you _ever _try and hurt her again…_ Nanoha's left hand became covered in magic, _you'll have _me _to deal with! _Nanoha grabbed ahold of the purple jewel, ripped it out of Fate's forehead, and crushed it. After that, Precia lost visual.

_I can't believe this! _Precia thought to herself. _Why did my invention stop working?! I designed it perfectly! _Suddenly, a loud crash reverberated through the room. Slowly turning, Precia saw Arf standing next to a large, metallic object that she recognized as the generator for the purple jewel.

"You would not be_lieve_ how long it took to find this thing!" Arf said with a smirk. "And when I _did _find it, I had to fight a giant robot guarding it! I'm not gonna lie, though, I enjoyed fighting the robot."

_Wh… What?! This stupid familiar sabotaged me?! _"You little bitch!" Precia pointed her Device at Arf and fired a **Thunder Sphere**, but Arf went into her wolf form, decreasing her height and allowing her to dodge.

"Now why exactly is that an insult?" Arf asked, going back to her hybrid form. "You're just pointing out that I'm a female dog." The runes for a **Dimensional Transfer** appeared beneath Arf.

"You think I'll just stand here and let you-" Precia was cut off, though, by a giant metallic hand smashing her into the floor.

"Did I mention that I reprogrammed the robot?"

"You…! Eat shit! EAT SHIT!"

"There you go again with the insults that aren't insults. To you, that's offensive. To me, that's a great idea for a meal." Arf's **Dimensional Transfer **finished charging and she was teleported out of the Garden of Time.

* * *

"Hello~!" Arf exclaimed as she was teleported to where Fate was. "How's it… going?" Arf's cheer quickly diminished when she saw the sorry states of Nanoha and her master. "What happened here?"

"We're fine," Fate said. "Well… I know for a fact that _I'm _fine. What about you, Nanoha?"

"I'm not sure. Does your mouth taste like copper, too, Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked.

"Yeah, you're not fine. Yuuno, please heal us."

"Right," Yuuno said, casting **Physical Heal **on the two girls. This made Arf wish that she knew healing magic, too, but that was better saved for later.

"But still… I wonder why the jewel stopped working when it did."

"I did that!" Arf said. "I found the thing that was powering it and I tore it up!"

"You did, Arf-san?" Nanoha asked.

"Yep!"

"Thank you, Arf," Fate said with a smile. "I'll make you a big steak when we get home."

"Yay! Oh! Speaking of food…" Arf stuck a hand into her cleavage, "I brought you something good, Fate!" The familiar quickly removed her hand and tossed something at Fate. Catching it, Fate's eyes widened when she saw that it was the bundled onigiri Momoko gave her.

"You still haven't eaten those, Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked.

"I… wasn't in the mood to eat them, that day. I'll have to apologize to Momoko-san for that…" Slowly, Fate unwrapped the bundle and started eating the rice balls. "...The rice is stale… and the meat's become really chewy…"

"What did you think would happen after two weeks of being in the fridge?" Yuuno asked.

"But still…" Fate started crying. "They're still so warm… and so good…" Fate kept eating the loving meal made for her, never before feeling so glad to be alive.

* * *

It only took a few seconds for Precia to destroy the robot Arf had reprogrammed. Now, she was the only one left in her lab. The only one left in the Garden of Time. The only left who would do something to revive Alicia.

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Precia screamed, smashing her Device against her computer repeatedly. She kept at it until the computer was but a pile of scrap metal. After that, Precia simply started throwing out curses until she started to cough up blood.

_Dammit… god dammit…_

"If this isn't sad, I don't know what is."

"!" Precia knew that voice, that beautiful voice which was like venom against her earbuds. Wanting with every fiber of her being for this to be a hallucination brought about by her illness, she turned to where the voice came from to get confirmation. Surprisingly enough though, there was no one there. When she turned back around, though, He was right in front of her.

He was what most people would call "handsome". He was slim, dressed in an all white suit, save for the black triangular rune on his lapel, had a healthy complexion, golden-blonde hair that clung to the base of his ears, and beautifully red eyes full of life. Nothing about His appearance was unappealing, but Precia could only look at Him with disgust.

"What are _you _doing here?!" Precia asked Him.

"What? I'm not allowed to visit every now and then? Not very welcoming, Precia." He then pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere and wiped the coughed-up blood off of her face. "Even if you don't want company, you should keep yourself clean."

"Don't touch me!" Precia swung her staff at Him, but He had long since vanished from that spot. Now, He stood a few feet away. "Answer my question! Why are you here?!"

"I'm here to help."

"?! After everything you've done, you expect me to believe that?"

"Hmmm… not entirely…" He was now standing on the ceiling, upside-down. "But you should believe it just enough to accept it." He was now lying on the floor two feet behind Precia. "I mean, given our history, your reasons to trust me are slim to none. However…" He was now floating upside-down right in Precia's face, "you're not in a position to request something like 'complete trust from a partner'."

"...What do you mean?"

"You spent years training that girl for this mission, but when push came to shove, she lost in her very first attempt at pleasing you. Now, after a series of unfortunate events, she's gone against you, entirely, leaving you all alone." He pulled out the handkerchief that He wiped Precia's blood with. "Because of this disease, you don't have the strength to travel to other worlds, so you can't go to non-administrated #97 and get the Jewel Seeds, yourself." He then licked the bloody handkerchief. "I'd say that you only have four more months to live, six if you're lucky. If things stay like this, at the end of the year, this Garden will become a Grave."

"..."

"I have the means to get the Jewel Seeds to activate; you know I do. I'll get you the amount you need, and you can go to Al-Hazard to revive _your _little girl. That sound alright?"

"...Why would you do this…?"

"...I said you're not in a position to request 'complete trust', Precia…" He then flashed a wild grin, "but, frankly, you aren't even entitled to that basic level of trust with me."

TO BE CONTINUED


	5. A Snatched-Away Hope, Nano

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release. **

* * *

He stood before a large hologram of what appeared to be Uminari City. The entire landscape was a translucent blue, save for 13 red dots scattered across various locations.

"Hmm… looks like six are in the ocean," He said, gazing upon the hologram. "Precia needs 14, and those two girls have eight between them, so that'll do just fine. Now, then…" He reached into His right sleeve and pulled out a conductor's baton, "let's do it up wild!" His arms flailed around in a completely untraceable rhythm. There was no beat, no time, no soul; He was conducting a symphony of madness, made even more unsettling by his humming Beethoven's Ninth all the while.

"If you're going to hum a song, your conduction should match up with it, don't you think, Fuhrer?" The Fuhrer stopped his actions and turned to the speaker. It was a man dressed in a lab coat that bore the same triangular rune on the right shoulder that resided on His lapel. He had a bald head covered in scars, a grey goatee, and sunglasses, despite them being indoors.

"Ah! I didn't hear you come in, Doktor Plejaden. What brings you here?"

"Just a little curious as to what you're doing."

"I believe I told the entirety of Vereinigung about this."

"What I want to know is _why_."

"...That's what I like about you, Doktor." The Fuhrer gave a smile that seemed rather disturbing. "You're never satisfied with what you hear unless you know everything there is to know. The reason for me doing this will become clear rather soon, but for now…" He flicked his baton, and the six red lights in the ocean vanished, followed by a mechanical saying, "**Aktivierung**(**Activate**)."

"Let's just say that I'm getting rid of a _very_ annoying thorn in my side."

* * *

It had been two days since Nanoha and Fate's second fight. Since Fate had no plans of returning to her mother's abode, the Garden of Time, Nanoha and Yuuno let her keep the Jewel Seed she sealed. Today, the two of them were at Fate's apartment to figure out their current plans.

"What do you want to do about your mom, Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked as she situated herself onto the couch.

"I… I'm not sure…" Fate said, sitting next to Nanoha. "She's not planning on using the Jewel Seeds for anything good… I can tell that much. _Something _has to be done, but I'm not sure what, exactly…"

"Fate…" Yuuno started from atop Nanoha's shoulder, "you're probably not going to like this, but we should probably call the TSAB."

"What?!"

"Call the who?" Nanoha asked.

"The 'Time-Space Administration Bureau'," Yuuno asked. "They're the organization that governs over interdimensional law and maintains the stability of the multiverse."

"?"

"Um… they're the Space Police."

"Oh, I get it! ...Wait, you want Fate-chan to call the Space Police on her own mother?"

"I can't do that!" Fate exclaimed. "I-"

"Fate," Yuuno said. "I know that this is something hard to think about. Even after everything she's done, she's still your mother, so it'd be hard to ask you to outright ruin her, but you can't just let her get away with this stuff. If you truly want to live a peaceful life with those you've gotten close to, then this is the only option."

"..." Fate didn't really know what to say. She knew Yuuno was right, but the thought of going against her mother like that still scared her, even making her shake a little. Noticing this, Nanoha gripped Fate's hand tight, almost immediately calming her down.

_That's right, _Fate thought. _Things are different. I'm not fighting alone; I'm fighting with people who are important to me… people who _want _me. I have no reason to be afraid anymore. _"I understand. It would be for the best if called the Bureau."

"Right!" Yuuno said. "I'll see if I can set up some sort of comlink with Raging Heart or something so I can-"

"I already called them," Arf said in wolf form, finally taking a break from eating her bowl of kibble.

"...What?"

"Back at the Garden of Time, I patched a message through to the Navy. One of their ships, the Asura, is gonna come here soon to help us."

"Wow, you're really on top of things, all of a sudden," Fate said.

"Hey! I'm not stupid like a _regular_ dog, you know!"

"Sorry if I implied that."

"It's alright. Now, then, I think I'm going to chase my tail for a bit." And chase her tail, she did.

"Nyahaha…" Nanoha laughed. "Arf-san's pretty-?!" A sudden wave of magical energy swept across Nanoha's senses. The auburn girl looked to her friends, and based on their shocked expressions(and Arf ceasing her tail-chasing), they also felt it.

"It's a Jewel Seed!" Yuuno exclaimed. "But this amount of magical pressure is too much for just one Seed. Two… three… no, it feels like… six!"

"Six?! All at once?! How?!"

"The only way that could happen would be if someone forcibly activated them," Fate said. "My mother couldn't do something like that unless she was here, but she never leaves the Garden. Who's responsible for-"

"That doesn't matter, Fate-chan! What matters is us sealing those Jewel Seeds right away!"

"R-Right! Let's go, Nanoha!" The two girls quickly activated their Devices and donned their Barrier Jackets.

"I'm coming, too!" Arf said, going into her hybrid form.

"Me, too!" Yuuno said.

"You, too, Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha asked.

"You'll need all the help you can get. Though if it's something this big, I should go back into my true form."

"?" The ferret jumped off of Nanoha's shoulder before his body started to emit a bright light. When it faded, what stood before Nanoha wasn't her furry companion; rather, it was a little boy with short, dirty blonde hair wearing a green and cream tunic over a pair of tan shorts, a dark brown T-shirt, a tan cape, brown arm bands, cut-off gloves, and tan boots.

"EH?! Yu-Yuuno-kun?! You're a humanoid alien boy?!"

"Huh? Didn't I… oh, that's right! I never showed you my real form when we met! Sorry, Nanoha, I guess this is a bit-"

"You saw me naked!"

"...What?"

"WHAT?" Fate asked, a large amount of hostility present in her voice.

"I can't believe you, Yuuno-kun!" Nanoha said, covering her chest. "Using your animal form to look at naked girls… that's sick! You're a pervert!"

"Hey!" Yuuno interjected. "_You _were the one who insisted I stayed in the women's bath!"

"I thought you were a ferret!"

"But didn't the fact that I clearly had a problem mean _anything_ to you?!"

"No! _You _were the one who said I'm still young enough to get distracted by candy, so why would I pay attention to that?!"

_What's that about candy? _Fate asked herself.

"Look, we don't have time for this; we have to seal those Jewel Seeds!" Yuuno shouted, opening a window. "You can kill me later!" The boy immediately flew through the open window.

"I will!" Nanoha shouted, flying after him.

"I'll help with that!" Fate shouted, flying after her. Arf, the only one left, walked over to the window and closed it.

"I'd prefer it if we _didn't _get robbed," Arf said, exiting the apartment through the door, making sure it was locked behind her.

* * *

"Look, what if you saw _me _naked? Would that make us even?" Yuuno asked Nanoha as the two of them, Fate, and Arf flew over the ocean.

"No, no it wouldn't!" Nanoha yelled.

"What if I buy you a sweet potato?"

"...I want ten."

"Three."

"Seven."

"Deal."

"You're forgiving him too easily, Nanoha," Fate said.

"No, she isn't!"

"I agree with Fate," Arf said.

"Stop ganging up on me!"

"Not _their _fault you're a pervert," Nanoha said.

"I thought we came to an understanding with the sweet potatoes!"

"You thought wrong!"

"Argh! Again! Later! Let's just worry about the Jewel Seeds!"

"...Where are they, exactly?"

"Um…" Yuuno had no idea, actually. They could all _feel _the Jewel Seeds, but none of them actually saw any. He started to think that they might have been mistaken, but then, he saw ripples begin to form on the surface of the water. Soon, the girls took notice of it, as well, and right after that, out from the ocean shot up a giant red serpent.

"WHAAAAAA?!"

"Yuuno," Fate started, "the Jewel Seeds, are they…"

"Yes," Yuuno said. "They have to be creating that monster. The only way we'll be able to seal them is by beating it."

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Arf flew straight at the monster, but it just roared and fired a jet of water at her.

"**Round Shield**!" Yuuno shouted, putting a shield in front of Arf that blocked the attack. "_That's _why we don't just rush into things! Fate, blast the water around it with a long-range spell!"

"Right!" Fate said. She put Bardiche in **Scythe Form** and fired **Axe Saber** at the water around the serpent, electrocuting the beast.

"Nanoha! While it's in pain!"

"Got it!" Nanoha shouted. "**Strike Smasher!**" A blast of magic was fired from Nanoha's hand directly at the beast.

"Arf! Shock it again!"

"OK!" Arf said, activating **Photon Lancer Multishot** and blasting the ocean with a multitude of electric shots, zapping it greatly.

"Now to end it!" Two green magic circles appeared underneath Yuuno's feet. "Spread, chains of commandments!" A large set of chains bound themselves around the serpent. "Catch and solidify, cage of sealing!" A second identical set of chains surrounded the serpent. "**ARRESTER CHAIN!**" Both sets of chains started pulling against the beast in opposite directions as if they were going to slice it. Rather than slice it, though, the chains exploded and blew the serpent to smithereens.

"Holy shit!" Arf shouted. "I didn't know you could fight!"

"Me, neither!" Nanoha exclaimed.

"Yeah, I forget that, myself, sometimes," Yuuno said. "We should seal the Jewel Seeds now; we can talk about how great I am, later."

"That won't happen," Fate said, putting Bardiche in **Glaive Form** and activating **Sealing**. Three little blips could be heard alongside three streaks of light that flew into Bardiche's core, signaling a successful seal, but that was it.

"Fate-chan, why'd you stop?" Nanoha asked. "Shouldn't there have been _six_ Jewel Seeds?"

"There… there were only three."

"! But that would mean that-"

"The other three are still active somewhere!" Yuuno exclaimed. Just then, a tremendous roar sounded through the area. The four mages turned around to see a serpent that looked identical to the last one, but red in color. Before anyone could do something, the serpent opened its mouth and blasted them with a giant blast of fire. The force of the attack knocked them all to just above the surface of the water and greatly tore up their Barrier Jackets.

"I… could have lived without that," Arf said, dipping her tail into the water to cool it off.

_We all could have lived without that, _Yuuno thought, taking a look at everyone and their injuries. _That attack was pretty powerful, and since no one put up a guard, the damage was even higher. Our Barrier Jackets are pretty messed up, too… can we really win this?!_ The serpent let out a primal roar as it charged at the mages.

"**Stinger Ray!**" This wasn't exclaimed by any of them, so the four mages were very confused when a multitude of light-blue beams blasted the serpent in the side of the head, knocking it aside.

"Looks like I made it just in time." The group of four turned to see who was talking. It was a short boy dressed in all black wielding a black staff. "You four alright?" He asked, flying over to them.

"Yes, thank you!" Nanoha said. "By the way, who are you?"

"Chrono Harlaown, Time-Space Administration Bureau Enforcer and Dimensional Navy captain. The ship I was assigned to, the Asura, was entering your planet's orbit in response to a distress signal we received two days ago when a large dimensional disturbance was detected. I was sent out to investigate it… I'm starting to regret volunteering for that." In the midst of all of this, the serpent reared its body back around let loose another blast of fire.

"**Blaze Cannon**!" A jet of flame was fired from Chrono's staff, creating a stalemate. "Feel free to help anytime!"

"You got it!" Arf shouted, hitting the serpent in the side of the head with a drop kick. The force of the kick was enough to knock the beast's head out of place, allowing Chrono's **Blaze Cannon **to get through and hit it.

"**Struggle Bind**!" Yuuno shouted, wrapping the serpent in chains that it tried to escape from to no avail. "Nanoha! Fate!"

"Bardiche, get set!" Fate shouted, putting her Device in **Device Form** and pointing it towards the sky.

"Raging Heart, standby ready!" Nanoha shouted, putting her Device in **Shooting Mode** and pointing it forward.

"**Thunder-**"

"**Divine-**"

"**Rage!**"

"**Buster!**" A large burst of magic was fired from Nanoha's staff as a giant thunderbolt simultaneously came down from the sky, both hitting the serpent at the exact same time. The monster roared out in pain for a few seconds before its body dissolved, leaving three Jewel Seeds in its place.

"We did it!" Nanoha cheered as she put her Device in **Sealing Mode**. "Lyrical Magical! Jewel Seed-" The auburn-haired girl's chant was cut off when she heard a loud rumbling noise. Looking up, Nanoha saw that the sky was suddenly pitch-black from a thick layer of clouds, even though it had been sunny just a moment ago. Then, out of the clouds shot three bolts of purple lightning. One shot the three Jewel Seeds Nanoha had yet to seal, and the other two hit Nanoha and Fate's Devices, somehow activating the **Put Out** system and forcing the collective 11 Jewel Seeds out of them. Before anyone could do anything in response, the 14 Jewel Seeds flew up into the air and disappeared.

"Wha… What the hell just happened?!" Chrono yelled.

"My mother…" Fate started. "I don't know how, but she stole all of our Jewel Seeds…"

* * *

"12, 13, aaaaaand 14," The Fuhrer said as the last Jewel Seed flew into an orbit around Precia. "There! Now you have all the Jewel Seeds you need to go to Al-Hazard. No need to thank me, Precia."

"I wasn't going to," Precia spat from her throne.

"Wow, you're cold."

"..."

"Well, it'll take at least an hour for the Jewel Seeds to properly sync up with your Device, given what you're trying to do. By that time, though, those bastards from TSAB will probably be beating down your door, so I wouldn't dilly-dally." The Fuhrer turned away from Precia, walked into an area drenched with shadows while whistling a nauseating tune, and simply vanished.

_I hate how I had to seek _His _help… but the ends justify the means, I suppose. Soon I will reach Al-Hazard, and soon… Alicia…_

TO BE CONTINUED


	6. Fate Testarossa is Not Crash, Nano

**Fox: Here it is, folks, the final battle! Let's kick some ass! **

* * *

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release. **

* * *

After the 14 Jewel Seeds were stolen, Chrono suggested that the five of them go to the Asura to come up with some sort of strategy. Currently, they were walking towards the bridge.

"So your mom's in charge of this ship, Chrono-kun?" Nanoha asked.

"That's right," Chrono said. "Admiral Lindy Harlaown. There are few people in the Bureau who take their job as seriously as her." They then reached the automatic door for the bridge. When it opened, they were immediately treated to the sound of a woman yelling "Am I _really _supposed to drink this crap?!" It came from an adult woman with green hair done in a ponytail and four markings on her forehead who was yelling at a teenage, brown-haired girl, both of whom were wearing dark blue uniforms.

_Though I never said her seriousness was very high._

"I did the best I could, Admiral!" The teenager cried.

"Your best is terrible!" The woman yelled. "Just because we're in the Space Boonies doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to get a decent cup of Space Tea!" Chrono, noticing the utter stupidity of this, started coughing to get his mother's attention.

"...Hello!" She said, turning to the group of five. "I'm Admiral Lindy Harlaown, commander of the spaceship Asura and of the space crew you see before you."

_We get it, you're from space! _Nanoha thought.

"This is my midshipman, Amy Limietta."

"Hello~!" Amy said. "It's nice to meet you Nanoha-chan, Yuuno-kun, and especially Fate-chan and Arf-san!"

"Why especially us?" Fate asked as Amy walked over to her and Arf.

"Because…" Before anyone could react, Amy had suddenly handcuffed Fate and Arf, "you're both under arrest for aiding and abetting a Class-S criminal!"

"...What?"

"Huh?!" Nanoha, Yuuno, and Arf exclaimed.

"Amy!" Chrono yelled. "You were supposed to arrest them _after _we arrested Precia!"

"Oh, right!" Amy said, removing the handcuffs. "Pretend that didn't happen."

"Like hell!" Arf yelled.

"Look, I know you two aren't bad people, but the law _is_ the law," Lindy said. "You two were involved in criminal activities, so you have to pay for your crimes."

"But that's not-" Nanoha shouted before Chrono put a hand over her mouth.

"...But you know… it _will _be rather hard for you to be found guilty of that, considering that you never handed Precia a _single _Jewel Seed. Plus, the prosecution will have even _less_ to work with if you act like good samaritans by helping with this arrest and, later, helping seal the last few Jewel Seeds. That make sense to you?"

"Yes!" Fate and Arf said with a smile.

"Good! We move out in twenty minutes! Chrono, those four are going to be your team, and you'll collectively be in charge, so come up with a good battle strategy!"

"Yes ma'am!" Chrono said with a salute.

"Amy, get the coordinates for the Garden of Time locked into the Dimensional Transporter! After that, get back in the kitchen and try to make some Space Tea worth drinking!"

"Yes… ma'am?" Amy managed to say.

"Break!" Amy ran down to the other bridge operators while Nanoha and co. left to plan their strategy, privately.

"Before we start, there's something I feel has to be said," Chrono said, looking at Fate. "It's about the reason this is happening, and concerns you, greatly."

* * *

20 minutes later, Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno, Arf, Chrono, and 42 redshirts were teleported to the front entrance of the Garden of Time. The large group was swiftly making their way to the door when they encountered a large mass of Precia's robot guards blocking it.

"Enforcer Harlaown, take your team and go on ahead!" One of the redshirts yelled, firing a long-range spell at the robots to create a hole in their wall. "We'll handle things here!" Chrono nodded silently as his team ran through the door. "Alright, men, let's show these guys who's bo-" The soldier was cut off by a robot punting him with tremendous force. After that, the robots started to tear into all of the redshirts.

"_Join the Bureau," my wife says, "it'll be fun," my wife says, _another soldier thought. _If I live through this…_

* * *

When multiple agents of the TSAB are assigned to a combat mission, they are typically split into four positions: Front Attacker, who handles the close-range combat, Center Guard, who attacks from mid to long-range, Guard Wing, who combines offense against the enemies with defense for the Front Attacker(s) and Center Guard(s), and Full Back, who provides support for the entire team with barriers and healing. For this particular operation, Chrono assigned Fate to Front Attacker because of her proficiency with close-range combat, him and Nanoha to Center Guard because of the large amount of distance spells they knew(it would also allow Chrono to quickly relay instructions to the other mages), Arf to Guard Wing because she had a strong balance of offense and defense, and Yuuno to Full Back because of his mastery of defensive spells. Evidently, the format was working, as the team was able to quickly make work of any robot that tried to attack them as they advanced.

"These guys just don't know when to quit," Arf said, kicking a decapitated robot head aside. "What a buncha digital dummies!"

"...We're here," Fate said as they approached the door to the throne room, ignoring Arf's comment.

"Remember, everyone, this is going to be tough," Chrono said. "Precia is one of the only mages to have a recorded SS-rank in the Bureau's history and has more years of experience than all of us, combined, so even with the five of us, she might be too much to handle. However, if what Fate and Arf said about her being sick is true, then that might make her speed and defense low enough for us to handle. Don't break formation, listen to each other, and we just might get through this."

"Right!" Nanoha said.

"Let's go," Yuuno said. Fate cast **Scythe Slash** and cut the door in two, allowing them to run inside. When they got there, they saw Precia sitting at her throne, giving off an air of pure malice.

"Precia Testarossa!" Chrono shouted, pointing S2U at her. "By order of Dimensional Navy admiral Lindy Harlaown, you're under arrest for illegal seizure and planned usage of Lost Logia!"

"...So… the Bureau really _did_ decide to get involved in something not at all their business," Precia said. "Not only them, but there's also the ferret changeling..."

"Hey!" Yuuno shouted.

"...my treacherous daughter... her filthy mutt…" Fate looked downcast from that while Arf growled a little, "...and the one at the center of all of my recent troubles." Precia stood from her throne. "The annoying little Earth girl who decided to play the hero upon no one's request!"

"..." Nanoha was definitely intimidated, but she maintained her ground.

"Nice little planet, Earth. After I'm done here, I think I'll pay it a visit. Pick up some Space Eggs, some Space Milk, and _BLOW IT THE FUCK UP_!"

"?!"

"Sorry, I'm usually more composed than that. I'm just feeling… ABSOLUTELY LIVID."

"If anyone should be livid, it should be _me_! You've been nothing but a horrible person to Fate-chan, but she never did _anything_ to upset you! All she ever wanted was for you to love her!"

"...That's right…" Fate started, "...all I ever wanted… was for Mother to love me. It's all I wanted… and…"

"**Lightning Bind,**" Bardiche said. Suddenly, Nanoha, Yuuno, Chrono, and Arf were each trapped in binds.

"I _will _have it!"

"Fate-chan?! What are you doing?!" Nanoha shouted.

"Sorry, Nanoha, but I was just using you and the others this whole time."

"Wh-What?!"

"After I lost in our first battle, I knew that it would be hard for me defeat you, so I pretended to let you into my heart until I could get you at a point where you would be utterly defenseless. Granted, I didn't want the Bureau to get involved, which is why Arf is also bound, but it looks like even _that _is but a minor interference."

"Fate…" Arf cried.

"Dammit! We fell right into her trap!" Chrono yelled.

"I _knew _we shouldn't have trusted you…" Yuuno said.

"Fate… chan…" Nanoha cried, tears streaking her face.

"From the very beginning, your sweet words meant nothing to me."

"...No… No…" The Earth mage then simply cried, her heart too broken for words.

"So… are you happy now, Mother?" Fate asked, walking over to Precia.

"'Happy'...?" Precia repeated. "...FHAHAHAHAHA! I'm absolutely ecstatic! You played that stupid girl, the entirety of the Bureau, and even _me_! I've never been so proud of you!"

"..."

"Now, let's destroy these fools who dare oppose us and go to Al-Hazard! To Alicia!"

"...Alicia?"

"...Oops. I didn't mean to mention that."

"Who… Who is Alicia?"

"Well, since the cat's out of the bag…" Precia tapped the ground with the bottom of her staff, summoning a purple magic circle. A second later, a large tube appeared on top of it. Fate and the others saw that it was filled not only with a strange liquid, but a naked girl who looked exactly like Fate.

"Who… Who is…"

"This is Alicia Testarossa. My daughter. My… _real _daughter."

"?!"

"26 years ago, when I still worked as a scientist, I was working on a new kind of energy generator. It was still a few weeks from completion, but those selfish, SELFISH superiors of mine wanted it ready faster for a big press release! I couldn't lose my job, so I sped up the schedule. ...I knew that there would be a meltdown. Even if it cost me years of work, it would have been worth it to piss off my idiot bosses. ...But why…" Precia walked over to the tube and embraced it, tightly, "why did Alicia have to be there when it happened?!"

"? She… she died."

"Alicia was all I had in the world; without her… I had absolutely nothing. I couldn't live without her! I needed her back in my life! Then… a miracle happened. I received a call from a brilliant man named Jail Scaglietti, asking me to help with one of his projects. He had done this in the past, but I always turned him down. _This _one, though, was what I needed; a project with the goal of successfully cloning living beings: 'Project Fate'!"

"Project… Fate? So… was I-"

"Yes! You, Fate, were the first successful product of Project Fate! With you, I finally had Alicia back! Even if you were just a clone, my precious little girl was back in my life! ...At least…" Precia turned to Fate and scowled, "...that's what I initially thought. As soon as you were finished, though, I took one look at you and became utterly disgusted."

"?! ...Disgusted?"

"Tremendously. You had _her_ face, you had _her_ body, you even had _her _memories, but whenever I looked at you, I could never erase the knowledge that you were just a replacement! A fake! A carbon copy who was only here to torment me as a constant reminder that Alicia was gone!"

"..."

"...But even so… someone like you was still able to prove useful. I, or rather Linith, was able to train you into being a mage powerful enough to collect the necessary means for opening a portal to Al-Hazard, the lost world of incredible technology that might very well hold the key to _truly _reviving Alicia." Precia then walked over to Fate and cupped her chin. "You exceeded all of my expectations. I'm _very _proud, Fate."

"...Exceeded the expectations of a doll… right?"

"That's right. By a longshot."

"...I'm just a doll to you…"

"Think of it in a manner similar to Pinocchio; you're nothing but a puppet, but keep being a good girl, and you might become real, one day."

"...That's where you're wrong, _Mother_. I… I..." _**Splash Edge. **_A blade of electricity appeared in Fate's left hand. Precia assumed she was getting ready to kill the other mages, but that guess crumbled into pieces when Fate took her lightning blade and stabbed it straight through her stomach. "I'M NOT A PUPPET!"

"Agh… Agh… AGGGGH!" The matriarch swung her staff at Fate, but Fate activated **Blitz Action** and moved away from her. She ended up back near the bound mages who, a second later, were no longer trapped in Fate's **Lightning Bind**.

"Yes! All according to gaykaku!" Arf cheered.

"_Kei_kaku," Yuuno said.

"What'd I say?"

"What are you… a plan?" Precia asked, coughing up blood.

"Based on what Fate and Arf told us, I concluded that your mental state had been unstable for quite some time, especially with the recent events," Chrono said. "So unstable, in fact, that seeing just one thing go right for you would completely cloud your judgement, allowing Fate to get close enough to deal heavy damage. A bit underhanded, perhaps, but you _are _an SS-class mage."

"You…" Precia turned towards Fate. "Even after hearing everything… you would still go against me? Don't you understand that… without me… you are _nothing_?!"

"...I already heard your story," Fate said.

"?!"

"Chrono told me about Alicia-nee-san and Project Fate before we came here… we were able to fill in the blanks of my existence afterwards."

"You already knew… and you still betray me?! When you're nothing but Alicia's copy?!"

"...You're wrong…"

* * *

**Earlier, on the Asura**

After Chrono finished telling Fate everything he had to say in regards to her "mother", she found herself crying in front of Nanoha for the third time in the last few weeks.

"I'm sorry if any of this upsets you, but I felt that you had to know," Chrono said.

"Why?!" Fate shouted. "I would've liked it better if I didn't know! I'm… I'm just a clone… a product of science… I'm nothing, absolutely nothing!"

"That's not true!" Nanoha shouted. "You're not nothing! Fate-chan is Fate-chan!"

"Wh… What?"

"She's right!" Arf added. "So what if you were cloned from someone, Fate?! You've made your own decisions; you're your own person!"

"My own… person?"

"No one can choose how they're born, but we _can _choose the kind of person we become," Yuuno said. "You may have been born as just a clone, but you've made yourself far more than that, Fate."

"I… I have?"

"Yes…" Nanoha said, bringing her friend into a hug. "No matter what anyone says, you are _Fate _Testarossa, and no one can _ever_ take that away from you."

* * *

"No matter what you say to me, I am _Fate _Testarossa," Fate said, pointing Bardiche at Precia, "and no one can _ever _take that away from me."

"That's where you're wrong, girl…" Precia said, pointing her staff at Fate. "I can easily take it away by taking your life!" The SS-class mage fired a **Photon Bullet **at her, but it was easily blocked by Nanoha's **Shoot Barret**.

"Thank you," Fate said, turning to the girl. "? You're still crying? I thought those were crocodile tears."

"No," Nanoha said, shaking her head. "Fate-chan's performance was so good, I forgot it was an act for a bit. But they really sold it, though, right?"

"Yes, but the next time either of us decides to shed tears, let's make them tears of joy."

"Nyahaha! ...Look out!" Thanks to Nanoha's warning, Fate was able to move out of the way and dodge Precia's **Thunder Sphere**.

"You… all of you… I will kill you all!" Precia shouted, activating **Variant Sphere** and launching multiple orbs at the young mages.

"Full Back! Guard Wing!" Chrono shouted. Yuuno, the Full Back, cast a **Circle Protection **around Nanoha, Chrono, Fate, and himself while Arf, the Guard Wing, cast **Plasma Arm** to punch some of the spheres aside. "Front Attacker, go!" Fate charged at Precia with multiple swings of her Device. She was able to get a few hits in thanks to her superior speed, but the ones that didn't connect were completely blocked by Precia's staff, indicating that it was incredibly sturdy.

"I'll teach you to defy me!" Precia shouted as she trapped Fate in a bind before blasting her away with **Thunder Sphere**.

"**Floater Field!**" Yuuno shouted, creating a cushion for Fate to hit, as opposed to the wall. Before Fate connected with it, though, she realigned herself so her feet would hit it first, allowing her to bounce off of it back towards Precia.

"**Arc Saber,**" Bardiche said as Fate accelerated towards her creator, the mana blade firing off like a boomerang.

"My turn! **Stinger Snipe!**" Chrono shouted, firing a light-blue beam at Precia. With two incoming attacks, Precia couldn't dodge or parry, but her **Round Shield **was able to block both attacks.

"**Snipe Shot!**" Chrono's beam flew into the air, spun around in a circle, and flew past Precia's **Round Shield,** hitting her in the arm, while Fate got her leg with **Scythe Slash** before getting away with **Blitz Action**.

"You little…!" Precia shouted, firing **Variant Sphere **at Chrono.

_Crap! _"Full Back!"

"**Chain Anchor!**" Yuuno shouted, wrapping each sphere in mana chains and throwing them back at Precia. They didn't connect, though, as Precia blocked with **X Defender**.

"Okay… now! Guard Wing!" The second **X Defender **wore off, Arf charged in and dealt Precia a swift uppercut to the jaw followed by throwing her to the ground and putting her in a Boston Crab. "Center Guard 2!"

"Right!" Nanoha said.

"**Divine Shooter, Full Power,**" Raging Heart said, allowing her master to fire eight cherry blossom-colored orbs at the ground, sending large chunks of debris into the air. Before they fell, though, Nanoha raised her right hand, causing them all to stop their descent.

"**Stardust Fall!**" The chunks of debris all flew at Precia, Arf letting go of her just in time to dodge; the evil matriarch, though, wasn't so fortunate.

"Well, Nanoha, looks like you really _rocked her world_!" Arf said with a grin. Everyone groaned in response to that. "Hey! It wasn't _that _bad! It was a pretty good pun, and what's that crackling noise?" As soon as Arf asked that, the pile of debris exploded, knocking her back. In the center of the destruction stood Precia, her body covered in blood and chunks of rock.

"JUST DIE ALREADY!" Precia shouted, pointing her staff at the five of them. "**Photon Stream!**" A tremendously large beam of electricity was fired from Precia's staff.

"Defense, hurry!" Chrono shouted. He, Nanoha, Yuuno, and Chrono each set up a **Round Shield** in front of themselves while Fate cast **Multi-Defenser **to set up multiple shields. Their combined defense was great, but it wasn't enough, as Precia's **Photon Stream **broke through and hit them, creating a large explosion. Precia laughed to herself at the thought that they were all finally dead, but she immediately stopped when the dust cleared and she saw that everyone, while clearly damaged, heavily, was still very much alive.

"What the hell does it take to kill you five?!"

"A lot more than what you have, apparently," Nanoha said as they all struggled to stand up. That little comment apparently pissed Precia off, immensely, as she transformed her Device into a whip and flung it at the auburn-haired girl. But rather than strike Nanoha across the face, it coiled around Fate's arm, who had risen just in time to defend.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha called out.

"How _dare _you treat my friends so shamefully?!" Fate shouted, casting **Plasma Arm **to send a shock through the whip at Precia.

"You're not _allowed_ to have friends!" Precia shouted back, sending an even stronger charge to Fate through the whip. "You're nothing but Alicia's copy! You're not allowed to have _anything_!"

"I'm… not… just a copy! Why don't you get it, already?! Alicia-nee-san is dead. She's gone! But if you had wanted her to, she could have lived on as a part of me!"

"?!" Fate set Bardiche to **Glaive Form** and pointed him to the ceiling.

"A great, kind person helped me find a way to the light. No matter what happens now, I won't stray from it. If I can keep to that, then this is my win!"

"What?! What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Just who the hell do you think I am? I'm Fate. I'm not Alicia-nee-san, I'm _ME_! Fate Testarossa!" Fate increased the output of electricity from her **Plasma Arm**, forcing Precia to uncoil her whip.

"So it's going to be like _that_, eh?!" Precia swung her staff and trapped Fate's arms in a **Bind **in a way that suspended her off the ground. "Let's see how much your pride is worth in the afterlife! **Crucifixion!**" A giant orb of purple electricity appeared over Fate's head that started falling down towards her.

"Yuuno-kun!" Nanoha shouted.

"On it! **Transporter**!" Yuuno shouted, causing Fate to be teleported out of her binds and next to Nanoha, making Precia's spell hit nothing but the floor.

"Let's go, Bardiche," Fate said, pointing her Device at her creator.

"**Piercing Lancer: Drill Mod,**" Bardiche said. The energy wings of **Glaive Form **flipped around to point in the same direction as the tip of the Device. Afterwards, they all increased in size and melded together to form a giant electric drill.

"I won't let you hurt me, or anyone I care about… anymooooore!" Fate threw her Device at Precia, the drill going right through her left side. Bardiche then flew back into Fate's hands seconds before an explosion occurred. When the dust cleared, Precia was still standing, albeit incredibly damaged.

"I… I must be dreaming…" Precia said, almost falling to the ground before catching herself. "For me to be beaten like this… this has to be a dream."

_It looks like she's just seconds away from losing consciousness_, Chrono told everyone, telepathically. _Be careful, though; in her current state, there's no telling _what _she could do!_

_Nanoha, you should set "that" up, just in case_, Yuuno thought.

_Right! _Nanoha thought back. _There should be enough mana in the air for a good one. _Nanoha put Raging Heart in **Sealing Mode **and pointed it towards Precia as cherry blossom mana particles started gathering in front of her.

"A dream… why isn't this a dream…?" Precia asked. "Why wasn't I able to-"

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

"! ...FHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes! Yes! YES! He wasn't lying, this time! After just an hour, the Jewel Seeds have _finally _become in sync with my Device! All I have to do now is tap it against the ground, and I can go to Al-Hazard! FHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What?! Is that true?!" Chrono asked.

"She's usually right about that science mumbo-jumbo," Arf said. "Why?"

"She's gonna kill us all, _that's _why!"

"What?!" Fate exclaimed.

"If she activates 14 Jewel Seeds at once, the resulting output of dimensional energy will destroy the Garden of Time almost instantaneously!"

"?!"

_Nanoha, you have to use "it"! _Yuuno thought to her.

_I can't! It's not charged enough, yet! _Nanoha thought back.

"You can have this victory, if you like…" Precia started, raising her staff high above her head. "However… the greater victory… goes to…"

_Move! _Chrono thought to everyone, prompting the team, sans Nanoha, to rush towards Precia. _Don't let her Device touch the ground!_

"ME!" They were too late. Precia's Device slammed against the ground. A brilliant light shone out in response, blinding everyone.

* * *

When Precia's vision returned to her, she saw that she wasn't in the Garden of Time, anymore. She was all alone in what appeared to be a suburban neighborhood, none of her enemies in sight.

"I… I did it!" Precia shouted. "FHAHAHAHAHA! I finally made it to Al-Hazard!"

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

**Fox: And so, our heroes all died. Precia soon found the technology needed to revive Alicia, which took the form of seven orange balls. Then, after picking up some Space Eggs and Space Milk, she blew up the Earth. So ends **_**Re-friending of Nanoha**_**.**

**Pie: No, no it doesn't.**

**Fox: ...Okay, it doesn't. Precia's happy ending might not be what it appears to be. Stick around for the final chapter of the Jewel Seed arc!**


	7. Lyrical Step: Friendship is Magic

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release. **

* * *

Precia did it. She had finally won against her enemies and made it to Al-Hazard. The woman was so happy that she was on her tiptoes as she bent back in laughter.

"I finally arrived!" Precia shouted. "It worked… the Jewel Seeds worked! FHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I won! No one can stop me now!" Precia ceased her maniacal laughter when she saw a bird fly by. The reason the bird made her stop was because something about its flight puzzled her: it seemed to fly right through her.

"...? What was that? Did that bird just ignore me? That's rather odd. ...Forget it." Ignoring what just happened, Precia started walking.

* * *

_Strange… _Precia thought as she passed by a postbox with a pile of dog poo in front of it. _Al-Hazard is supposed to be ancient civilization, so there should be ruins of some kind, but there's nothing of the sort, here. _Precia passed the postbox and dog poo again. _Not only that, but there's not a single sign of advanced technology; this all looks entirely modern! _Precia passed by the postbox and dog poo a third time. _Not only that... but for some reason... my injuries from that battle have all been healed… _Precia passed by the postbox and dog poo a fourth time before she stopped walking.

"...A circle? Have I been walking in a circle? Im...Impossible. I've made various turns through here, yet I've been walking in a circle?! How?! What's happening?!"

"You _still _don't get it, do you?" A foul voice asked Precia.

"!" Dreading what she'd soon see, Precia turned around to find herself face-to-face with the Fuhrer. "What, no, _how _are _you _here?"

"You honestly find my presence surprising? I thought we were closer than that."

"Merely knowing your _face_ keeps us too close!"

"Ouch!" The Fuhrer was now standing at her left. "You're still going to talk to me like that? After everything I've done for you, recently?"

"That was _one _thing! Besides, I could have easily came up with my own solution to getting the remaining Jewel Seeds!"

"Oh no no no no, not just that." The Fuhrer was now in the air, upside down, right above Precia's head. "'Without me, this entire event would have never occurred,' is what I'm trying to say."

"What are you-"

"A ship is taking 21 Lost Logia away for storage, but just _happens _to pass through the orbit of a Non-administrated world? Then, that ship just _happens _to get destroyed, and the Lost Logia just _happen _to all land in the same area? Didn't any of that strike you as a little… convenient?"

"...! It can't be… you…"

"That's right!" The Fuhrer was directly in front of Precia. "First! I had that ship's GPS hacked and changed its route to go through that little blue rock's orbit! Second! I had my allies attack the ship and destroy it, entirely! Finally! Said allies sent the 21 Jewel Seeds to that little city in that little archipelago known as 'NIPPON'! You see, Precia, it's thanks to _me _that this all happened!"

"Wh… What…?"

"Now, though, you're probably wondering _why _I chose to send the Jewel Seeds to Earth and _why _I got involved in the first place. You see, for quite a few years now, I've been sensing a powerful source of magic from NIPPON that didn't have an ounce of malice to it."

_That little brat!_

"Such a pure, untainted magic it was. I knew for certain that if trouble approached the owner's home, the owner would certainly try and stop it… and end up opposing you, as a result."

"You set all of that up… _knowing _I would get an enemy?"

"Yep!"

"Why?! Why would you do such a thing?!"

"Because of the answer to that second question on your mind, which is also my whole motivation for this:" He then gave Precia a furious glare, "I wanted you to die."

"?!"

"For so long, I have longed for your death, Precia Testarossa. Every day that you remained alive has been absolutely terrible for me, for the knowledge that you still breathed each day made me want to vomit. So much, in fact, that when I learned that someone uncovered the Jewel Seeds you had been searching for in an archaeological dig, I knew I had a perfect chance to manipulate things in my favor until I reached the desired result: your demise."

"Well it looks like you failed, then! I'm alive, and I've achieved my goal of Al-Hazard!"

"...You've… achieved your goal…? ...Guhuhuhu… Guhuhuhu… GUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" His laughter had an odd, utterly horrid sound to it; it was like a woman giving birth to a cat moving its claws across a blackboard while blowing into a vuvuzela. What made it even stranger, though, is that while he was laughing, his body was surrounded in a rainbow-colored glow.

"What's so damn funny?!" The Fuhrer stopped laughing, and the rainbow glow vanished.

"You think that you won, but in reality… guhuhu… but in reality… guhuhuhu…"

"Spit it out!"

"You're already dead!"

"?! What are you-" The Fuhrer then stuck his hand out at her chest. Precia would have normally swatted Him away with her Device, but He moved extremely fast, and what she saw happen stunned her too greatly: His hand went right through her body. "! It can't… be… I…" Precia then clutched the sides of her head and started to scream.

"It's coming back to you, right? Come, try to remember. What kind of form did you have? How did you spend your final moments, Precia Testarossa?"

* * *

**Earlier, in Precia's throne room**

"You can have this victory, if you like…" Precia started, raising her staff high above her head. "However… the greater victory… goes to…"

_Move! _Chrono thought to everyone, prompting the team, sans Nanoha, to rush towards Precia. _Don't let her Device touch the ground!_

"ME!" Precia moved her Device towards the ground with tremendous speed and force, too fast for anyone to get to her in time to stop the motion. No one stopped Precia from moving her Device towards the ground, but when she tried to make the two touch, she found that her staff wouldn't move farther down than a few centimeters above the ground. "?!"

"I… made it in time…" Fate said. Everyone turned toward Fate to see her pointing Bardiche in **Device Form** at Precia's Device. "My mana conversion affinity is lightning, so I have control over things dealing with electricity. One such thing is… magnetism!"

_I get it! _Yuuno thought.

_She used her mana conversion affinity to change the magnetic polarity of Precia's Device, making it have the exact same charge of the ground, _Chrono thought. _Because of that, the Device won't be able to make contact!_

_Nice going, Fate! _Arf thought with a grin.

"You… YOU SHITTY BRATS!" Precia cursed as she started forcing the butt of her staff closer to the ground, clearly ignoring the laws of physics.

"**Magnetic Anchor,**" Bardiche said. With a tremendous battle cry, Fate swung her body around, pulling her creator into the air by her Device. Precia was about to try and fire off a spell at Fate, but the sight she saw before her stunned her too much for that to happen: she saw Nanoha looking right at her while a giant ball of mana sat directly in front of the girl.

"**Starlight…**" Nanoha started as she raised her staff, "**BREAKER!**" The Earth mage smacked the ball with her staff, transforming it into a giant beam that blasted Precia into the ceiling, cracking it immensely. When Precia fell to the ground, she was covered in blood and bruises, her arms were broken, and her Device had fallen a few meters away from her.

"Now… it's over," Nanoha said.

"Open… open…" Precia muttered. "Now! Open! Now! Open… portal to Al-Hazard…" All of the accumulated damage had clearly started to mess with her mind.

_Mother… _Fate thought with a sad look as she watched her spout bits of insanity. While she did, she noticed an odd sound from above. Looking up, Fate saw that the part of the ceiling Precia was slammed into was coming loose by the second. It only took Fate a second to realize what was happening, but by then, a large chunk of concrete had already broken free and was falling towards the evil matriarch.

"Open… open…"

"MOTHER!" Fate tried to run to her, but Arf grabbed her cape and stopped her, not wanting her master to get hurt. A split second later, the slab of concrete fell right on top of her head, ending her life.

"..." Everyone was nearly too stunned for words.

"An accident…" Yuuno said. "After everything that's happened, she goes out in an accident…"

"This might be for the best…" Chrono said. "The law couldn't make a punishment good enough for her. She got what she deserved."

"Chrono-kun!" Nanoha yelled, knowing that Fate might not want to hear something like that.

"It's alright, Nanoha…" Fate said, removing Arf's hand from her cape. "Chrono's right in saying that. After everything Mother did, this is what she deserves."

"Fate-chan…"

"...But still…" The blonde then walked over to Precia's Device and picked it up in her left hand. Afterwards, she walked over to the tube holding Alicia's corpse and smashed it open with her Device, the dead body falling out onto the floor.

"**Floater,**" Bardiche said, Fate pointing him at Alicia's corpse. The corpse was illuminated in a yellow light before it started floating above the ground. Silently, Fate walked over to where Precia laid and placed Alicia's dead body next to her.

"Chrono, you know a fire spell, right? Could you…"

"...Understood," Chrono said, knowing what it was that Fate was asking for. He pointed S2U at Alicia and Precia and cast **Blaze Cannon**. He maintained the spell for several seconds until both of the bodies were fully set ablaze.

"Alicia-nee-san, I never knew you, even though I technically _am _you, but I would have liked to. I would have liked to play with you… to laugh with you… to see you smile when I call you 'nee-san'...

"Mother… you probably never liked me calling you that. I… I can't forgive you for anything you did to me… but I won't hate you for it. You just wanted your most important person back and lost yourself while trying to do that… is there really anything wrong with sacrificing everything for the ones you love?

"I won't forgive you, but I also won't hate you. Even if this feeling is one-sided… you will always be my mother, and I will always be your daughter. I just… I wish you could have thought that, too…" Fate didn't shed a single tear as she spoke these words.

_Goodbye, Alicia-san_, Nanoha thought as she watched the bodies burn. _And goodbye to you, too, Precia-san. Maybe in another life, the two of you can be with Fate-chan in a better way than this… _Nanoha then put her hands together and said the Japanese Nianfo, "Namu Amida Butsu." The others didn't really know what it was, but they could tell it was a prayer for the dead, so they mimicked Nanoha's action.

"Namu Amida Butsu," Yuuno said.

"Namu Amida Butsu," Arf said.

"Namu Amida Butsu," Chrono said.

"Namu... Amida Butsu," Fate said.

* * *

**Present time, ?**

Precia ceased her screaming. When she did, the injuries she had gained in the battle returned to her.

"Looks like you've remembered your death," the Fuhrer said. "Though I have to wonder how you were able to know about the stuff you weren't alive for."

"I… I don't understand…" Precia said. "If… if I died, then where am I, now…?"

"Haaaaaaaaaaaah?"

"...Aah… I get it… this is another one of your despicable lies! I'm not dead; that scene you showed me was a fabrication of your own design!"

"...Let's say that's true, Precia. Based on that, you are, indeed, in Al-Hazard. Now, you can look for the alleged technology capable of reviving the dead. Now, you can revive _your _daughter. But, consider this, Precia…" The Fuhrer got inches away from her face. "Does Alicia want to be revived just to be with an awful woman like you?"

"?!" The Fuhrer had backed up about a meter and held his hand above the ground, a transparent Ancient Belkan magic circle appearing while he did. After about a second, there was a little girl standing next to him with a smile and a face that Precia immediately recognized.

_Ali...cia?_

"You look rather happy, Alicia," The Fuhrer said.

"Yep!" Alicia(?) said. "Mama's going to be home soon, and she said that she'd play with the second she stepped through the door!"

"That's great! Sounds like she _really _cares about you."

_What is trying to do here? _Precia thought.

"Any second now, your mama will come home and-" The Fuhrer made a poor imitation of a ringtone. "Sorry, I've gotta take this." He then put His left hand to his ear as if it were a phone. "Hello? Oh, hey! Alicia and I were just talking about you! ...Alright, I'll tell her." He then imitated the sound of a phone being hung up. "That was your Mama, Alicia."

"Is Mama on her way?" Alicia(?) asked.

"Actually… she got hit with a lot of extra work." The Fuhrer bent down to be at Alicia's eye level. When He did, a zipper appeared on her forehead. "She's gonna be home really, really, really, _REALLY _late. Sorry~!" He grabbed the zipper on her forehead and pulled it down. When He did, Alicia's(?) entire body collapsed as if it were a costume, now just lying on the ground in a rumpled pile. Standing in the middle of that pile was Alicia(?), the same zipper on her forehead, the same face, but a slightly less enthusiastic smile.

_?! What is this?! _Precia thought.

"Mama's going to come home early tonight." Alicia(?) said. "She moved a lot of stuff around, and now-"

"Sorry, but she has a conference," The Fuhrer interjected, unzipping her again. The third Alicia(?) wasn't giving off an expression that could be called a "frown", but calling it a "smile" was a bit of a stretch.

"Today! Today, Mama only has to go in to move a few files around, so-"

"She was immediately hit with some work that she couldn't turn down, so she'll be home late." He unzipped her, the fourth Alicia(?) having a slight frown.

"Mama said that she would-"

"She has to work late; she's not coming home." He unzipped her.

"Mama said-"

"She's not coming home." He unzipped her.

"Mama-"

"She's not coming home." He unzipped her.

"Ma-"

"She's not coming home." He unzipped her.

"...I-"

"She's not coming home." He unzipped her. "She's not coming home." He unzipped her. "She's not coming home." He unzipped her. "She's not coming home." He unzipped her. "She's not coming home." He unzipped her. "She's not coming home." He unzipped her. "She's not coming home." He unzipped her. "SHE'S!" He unzipped her. "NOT!" He unzipped her. "COMING!" He unzipped her. "HOME!" He unzipped her. The current Alicia(?) was sitting on the ground, facing away from Precia and the Fuhrer, hugging her legs while making sobbing noises.

"...Mama's… not coming home…"

"She never does, does she?"

"...No… she doesn't…"

"It wasn't my fault!" Precia shouted. "I was a leading scientist; I couldn't just slack off!"

"You still could have set some time for her, Precia," the Fuhrer said.

"Yes… you could have…" Alicia(?) said.

"I could only do so much!" Precia said. "I always tried to get time off to be with you! Even when I couldn't, you were still all I thought about!"

"If that's true, why didn't you try harder to be with her?" The Fuhrer asked. "If Alicia was so important, why didn't you prioritize _her _over work, instead of the other way around?"

"Yeah… why…?" Alicia(?) asked.

"That's not true…" Precia said. "That's not-"

"Oh, but it is!" The Fuhrer interjected. "You ignored her cries for attention, you neglected her desire to be by your side, you cast aside her wish to spend more time with you. You did all of that just for the sake of your job!"

"...The sake… of her job…" Alicia(?) repeated.

"Rather selfish, isn't it, Alicia?"

"...Sel… fish…"

"It's almost like… Mama never loved you, at all."

"...Mama… never loved me… ...Mama… never loved me… ...Mama… never loved me…" Alicia(?) bent her head back so her face could be seen by the two adults, and it was truly frightening. Alicia's(?) eyes were gone, leaving two black holes, and pouring out of each hole were tears of blood. "MAMA NEVER LOVED ME!" Alicia's(?) head fell off her neck and landed on the ground, melting into a puddle of black sludge, along with her body. The whole time that took place, Alicia(?) kept shouting, over and over, "MAMA NEVER LOVED ME!"

"Bet you never thought of any of _that_," He said with a sneer while having his back towards her.

"You… YOU BASTARD!" Precia shouted, running at the Fuhrer while swinging her Device at Him, though He dodged every swing without even looking at her. While this was happening, He was leading her down a road Precia hadn't gone down yet, but her rage kept her from noticing. "You have no right! After all you've done, you have no RIGHT to say that I don't love Alicia!"

"_I_ never said that. Those were _your _daughter's feelings, Precia. Guhuhu." In the midst of His taunting of her, He lost His footing and fell flat on His face.

"DIE!" Precia raised her staff high above her head in preparation to hit Him with it, but she suddenly lost the strength to do so when something hit her in the chest. Looking down, Precia saw that someone had stabbed her in the chest with a scalpel… a very familiar scalpel. Slowly, Precia turned around and confirmed the identity of the assailant.

"Doktor… Plejaden?" The Doktor didn't respond. He merely pulled out his scalpel and threw Precia to the ground before walking over to the Fuhrer, who was now standing, but still had his back to Precia.

"How exactly did you get here, Doktor?" He asked.

"I am the most brilliant mind anyone will ever know," he said. "Finding a way into this place is child's play."

"I suppose it would be. Thanks for the help back there, even if it _was _unnecessary; I had already come up with 27 different ways to achieve my desired end result. The ends justify the means, though, and that end should start about… now." The sky suddenly turned black. In Precia's line of sight, though, hundreds of lights were visible. The lights kept getting closer and closer until she saw their true form: hands. Hundreds of ghoulish hands that all grabbed onto her body and wouldn't let go.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Precia shouted.

"Like I said, you're dead," the Fuhrer said. "When people die, they first come to this place before truly passing on. It's true name has been lost for centuries, but I call it the Geist Gasse(Ghost Alley). It's an endless maze for those who enter it… except for this road. This road is the one and only exit back to the realm of the living, and all you have to do is walk down it without ever turning around. However, Precia… you turned around. This is your end."

"THE HELL IT IS!" Precia pointed her Device at the Fuhrer. "**Photon-**"

*SNAP*

The countless hands pulled Precia's body apart into multiple bits.

"And that's that! Goodbye!" The Fuhrer and Doktor Plejaden walked away from Precia, vanishing into the shadows.

"...I remember…"

* * *

**Mid-Childa, year 0039 of the New Calendar**

It was a rare day off for Precia, so she decided to take Alicia out for a picnic in a meadow.

"Alicia, is there anything you want for your birthday?" Precia asked. She knew that she had been working a lot, lately, so Precia was willing to buy Alicia anything, regardless of the cost.

"Um… I know!" Alicia said. "I want a sister!"

"'A sister'?" Precia had yet to tell Alicia about the Space Birds and the Space Bees, so her not understanding the impossibility of a single mother doing that was to be expected. Not only that, but after what happened with her husband, Precia had no intention of settling down with a man, again. "Alicia, that's-"

"If I had a sister, I wouldn't be so lonely when you're out. It's nice playing with Linith, but she's just a cat, not a person…" Alicia started to frown.

"...I… I can't promise that it will happen by your birthday," Precia held out her pinky finger towards Alicia, "but someday, you _will _have a little sister, Alicia, okay?" Alicia smiled and wrapped her pinky around her mother's.

"It's a promise! If you break it, you'll have to swallow 1000 needles, though!" The two laughed for a bit. That night, Precia began looking into the adoption process.

* * *

**Present time**

_That's right…_ Precia thought. _Alicia… she wanted a little sister. Maybe that's why her saying I wasn't her mother hurt so much. ...I'm not swallowing 1000 needles, but this should be enough of a punishment, right... Alicia? Right… Fate? _The ghoulish hands carried Precia off into darkness, no one knowing where she was going, exactly.

* * *

It was Saturday, June 3, Earth year 2006, Mid-Childan New Calendar 0065. About a month had passed since Precia Testarossa died. After the battle, Nanoha and her friends spent the next few weeks tracking down the last seven Jewel Seeds, the five having secured the last one the other day, so the Jewel Seed Incident was officially over.

Because of his part in the Jewel Seed Incident, Chrono was promoted to the rank of Dimensional Navy commodore, something that pleased him greatly, even if he didn't show it. Nonetheless, Chrono, along with Lindy and Yuuno, would all be working together to get Fate and Arf acquitted. Nanoha asked to help, but Lindy said that it would be too lengthy a process for her to get involved with. Not only that, but there were just too many things in their favor for them to lose: none of the only Jewel Seeds Fate and Arf ever collected were willingly given to Precia, they helped out in the final battle, and because of said battle, the Bureau now had access to the Garden of Time, which meant they had access to all of Precia's research notes.

Today was the day that Fate and Arf had to be officially taken into custody, so Fate and Nanoha had agreed to meet up before then. But before even that, Fate decided to go somewhere else to say some things that had to be said. She approached the house she decided to go to and knocked on the door. When it was opened, Fate was greeted with a pleasantly familiar face.

"Fate-chan?" Momoko Takamachi asked.

"Good morning, Momoko-san," Fate said. "May I come in?"

"Um… okay." Momoko led Fate into the living room. Sitting in there were Shirou, Kyouya, and Miyuki Takamachi, who were all the people Fate wanted to see right now.

"What are you doing here, Fate?" Shirou asked. "Nanoha said she was meeting you, downtown."

"She is… we are… but I wanted to come here first to tell you all something."

"What is it?" Kyouya asked.

"You see, a few weeks ago, my mother… died from cancer."

"Oh my God!" Miyuki gasped. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Fate-chan! Do you need a hug?"

"Thank you, but I'm alright."

"I think you need a hug."

"I'm fine, really."

"Mom, hug her." Momoko immediately hugged Fate, the latter returning the embrace after a few seconds and the whole thing ending soon after.

"A-Anyway! I have to go back to Canada for a while for legal stuff, but I should be back by the end of the year."

"And you want to live here with us?" Momoko asked. "Okay, that sounds great!"

"?" Fate honestly couldn't believe what she had heard. "N-No… I-"

"We don't really have any rooms, though…" Kyouya pointed out.

"That's-"

"She can sleep in Nanoha's room!" Miyuki said. "That'll work!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Please listen to me! I just wanted to say that, when I come back, I'd like to be able to come here whenever I can. I still have my apartment, and my mother left me a lot of money, so I should be fine on living expenses. You don't need to do something like that…"

"Maybe we don't _need _to, but we're _going _to," Shirou said.

"Why?"

"Because you make Nanoha happy, that's why!"

"?"

"Six years ago, I had to be in the hospital for a long, _long _time."

_That's right, _Fate thought. _Nanoha told me about this. Shirou-san used to be a bodyguard, but he was caught in an explosion that left him hospitalized for months_.

"Because of my accident, everyone had to put all of their spare time and then some in running the cafe. Nanoha, though, was only three, so she was too young to help. Because of that, Nanoha always had to stay upstairs so she wouldn't get in the way, but because of that, she was always alone. Of course, Nanoha's never admitted to this bothering her, but we all know it does." The Takamachi's each gained a downcast expression. "She'd always act like nothing was wrong, but her smile, even six years later, always lacked a certain amount of life to it…"

_I… I never knew about that part…_

"But then, she started smiling again, and I mean _really _smiling, like she was actually smiling because she wanted, not to keep up appearances. Do you know when we started seeing her smile like that?" Fate shook her head. "When she brought you home."

"M-Me?" Fate couldn't help but blush at this.

"I don't know why it is, but you've made my baby girl happier than she's ever been in years. As far as I, and everyone else here is concerned, Fate, you're family, and family sticks together. Go back to Canada, do what you have to do there, but when you come back, you're coming back here, okay?"

_...What is this…? I… I knew I liked these people, and I had a feeling they liked me… but this is too fast, isn't it? Yes, it has to be; the logical thing would be to say no… but… I don't feel like using logic, right now. _"Okay!"

"Damn right, 'okay'," Shirou said, patting the top of Fate's head.

"Thank you, Shirou-san."

"Didn't you hear me, Fate? We're family now! Call me 'Dad'!"

"?!" _WHAT?! _Fate's face went crimson. "Um… I… Um… Thank you!" Fate immediately ran out the door. When it slammed shut, Kyouya, Miyuki, and Momoko each smacked the back of Shirou's head.

"Too soon? Came on a bit strong?"

"Both!" The three shouted.

* * *

_That… went differently than I had planned, _Fate thought. _It went… a lot better. It was _very _awkward at the end, but all in all…_

"Fate-chan!" Fate turned around to see Momoko holding a parcel. "Here's some lunch for you; I made it, myself!"

"Really?!" Fate happily took the parcel. "Wait, when? You didn't even know I was coming."

"It was actually Shirou's lunch, but I took it away because he was being so stupid." Fate giggled a bit at this. "...You know, Fate-chan, the fact that you make Nanoha so happy isn't the only reason we want you to live with us."

"? It isn't?"

"When Shirou and I first saw you, you seemed like such a sad person, too sad for a nine-year-old girl. Even after you lightened up from our dinner and talking with Nanoha, your eyes still had that pale light to them. Shirou and I hated seeing the person who made our Nanoha smile look so sad, so we decided that we'd do whatever we could think of to make you happy!"

"You two took one look at my eyes, thought they looked sad, and decided I needed help just from that? Now I know where that girl gets it." Momoko laughed at that.

"But seriously, though, if you ever need help with anything, you can always talk to us."

"I will." With that, Fate turned around and started walking away.

"Good luck with your trial!"

"Thank you!" It took a few seconds before that statement really registered in Fate's mind. "What did you say?" Fate turned around, but Momoko was already gone.

_...I must have misheard her. There's no way she said that, right? Momoko-san's a regular human, so she couldn't possibly know about my trial… right?_

* * *

20 minutes after her talk with the Takamachis, Fate was waiting at the bridge she and Nanoha decided on. A little away from there, Yuuno, Chrono, and Arf(chewing on a bone) were waiting for Fate and Nanoha to have their talk so they could go back to the Asura.

"Fate-chan!" Fate turned her head and smiled at the sight of Nanoha, the person who had unexpectedly become her friend.

"Nanoha…"

"Do you really have to go, now?"

"Yes. Arf and I have to stand trial for what we did." Nanoha frowned. "It's alright! Admiral Harlaown said that it's basically a formality, given everything we've gotten for the Bureau! We'll be free, really fast!"

"And then… you'll come back here, and we can keep being friends?"

"There isn't anything else I want, so stop frowning, okay? You look your best when you smile."

"Nyahaha." Nanoha did what she was told. "But still, we're not going to see each other for a while, so…" Nanoha undid the pink ribbons holding her pigtails together and handed them to Fate, the girl putting her parcel down to take them. "These are my favorite ribbons, and to make sure you won't forget me, I want you to have them, Fate-chan."

"Nanoha… I…" Fate was at a loss for words with the gesture. Not really knowing what to say, she undid her black ribbons and handed them to Nanoha. "These ribbons… they're _my _favorite, too. Take them, and please, don't forget me."

"I won't… I couldn't…" The two girls embraced each other. This time, though, it was Fate who initiated it. _I just couldn't…_

* * *

**That night, on the Asura**

It was late at night. The majority of the Asura's space crew had gone to sleep, with only a few people still up. One of those few, currently staring at a computer monitor, was Chrono.

"Whatcha doin', Chrono-kun?" Amy, also awake, asked while rubbing an eye.

"Going over some of Precia's files," he said. "Most of them are heavily encrypted and were sent to our code breakers, but a bunch were easy to access."

"Doesn't the concept of 'sleep' mean anything to you?"

"Enforcers can't rest when work has to be done. Also, show me some more respect, already. I know we go back a long way, but I'm a commodore, now!"

"You weren't the only one who got promoted! I'm no longer a midshipman, I'm an ensign!"

"...That's still below me."

"Yes, but you shouldn't think you're the only one moving up in the world."

"O… K?" _God, she's annoying! I pity the man who marries her. _Chrono suddenly sneezed. _That was weird. _

"Anyway, why are you going through Precia's files?"

"I want to see if I can find a record of her coming in contact with someone."

"Who?"

"I'm not sure, but when her Device became synched with the Jewel Seeds, she said that 'He' wasn't lying. That must mean that someone was assisting her throughout this whole event."

"Could it have been that doctor guy who worked on Project Fate with her? Jail… Spaghetti?"

"I don't think it was Jail _Scaglietti_, Amy. That guy never goes to Non-administrated worlds when he tries to steal Lost Logia. Plus, from the information we already have on Precia and Jail, those two never contacted each other once after Project Fate was finished, so it would be weird for her to do that now, all of a sudden."

"So if it wasn't Jail, then who was it?"

"I don't know. There's no record of any other men in Precia's life, so it's a mystery. One things certain, though: whoever that guy is, we need to watch out for him."

* * *

**Uminari City, 11:59 PM**

The sole occupant of a certain house, a brown-haired little girl of about nine, was lying on her side in her bedroom, reading a book. On the exact opposite side of her stood the Fuhrer, his presence going completely unnoticed.

_It was a great idea of mine giving Nanoha Fate's name the day they met_, He thought. _Thanks to that, the events that led to their befriending of one another were able to take place. Thanks to that, they were able to become quite powerful. Thanks to that… Precia died. Guhuhuhu. Now, though, they have no use to me; if anything, those two will just be a nuisance. I'll kill them, but not now, the time isn't right. I have something _much _more important to do. _He extended his arm and touched a book on the desk in the room… a brown book wrapped in chains.

_Soon, my precious tool. Soon, you shall fully revive; you have just the Meister to allow for it. When that time comes, I will come for you, and we will set everything ablaze. But, for now… simply waking up is alright._ The Fuhrer walked into some shadows and vanished. The second he did, the clock struck midnight.

"Oh, it's midnight," the brunette said. "Happy birthday, me." A dark-purple light illuminated the room. Confused, the girl turned around to see that it was coming from the mysterious book that was just on her bookshelf one day after her parents died. A small tremor sounded through the room as the book floated into the air. Veins appeared across its frame as it expanded and contracted like a heart before the chains that no one the girl ever asked to remove could suddenly burst. The book flipped open, revealing that it was filled with nothing but blank pages.

"**Loslassen siegel(Releasing seal),**" a mysterious voice said. The book then floated down towards the girl, frightening her and making her back up.

"**Anfange(Begin).**" After that was said, Hayate Yagami's life was never the same again.

* * *

**Fox: I don't know how, but this ended up being the longest chapter for a fanfic I've ever written.**

**Pie: I'm impressed.**

**Fox: Me, too! Now, then, this chapter puts an end to the Jewel Seed Arc, and I will soon present you with an adaption of **_**that**_**.**

**Pie: And "that" is…**

**Fox: The season everyone holds in tremendous regard! The season many consider the magnum opus! The season that, for some, is the last season of the franchise, and everything made afterwards never existed! That's right, Pie, I'm talking about **_**Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy's**_

**Pie: That was so lame, it hurt to listen to.**

**Fox: Whoa!**

**Pie: Shut up.**

**Fox: Sit on it!**

**Pie: I will kill you if you don't stop.**


	8. A Promise in a Spiritual Garden, Nano

**Fox: Here we are, at the beginning of **_**Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy's**_**!**

**Pie: Stop referencing The Fonz!**

**Fox: ...Fine. This arc, the Book of Darkness Arc, will be the first arc in what will collectively be known as the Unbreakable Dark Saga. For those of you familiar with the PSP games, this **_**might**_ **be spoiling some things that are going to happen. Anyway, let's go! **

* * *

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release.**

* * *

Its name is the "Book of Darkness". Presumably made in Ancient Belka during the Warring States Period, it is an evil weapon that feeds off the Linker Cores of magical beings in order to fill its 666 pages and grant its Meister unspeakable power. The only way to prevent this is to destroy the Book, but because of its Defense Program, the Book will eventually restore itself for a new Meister. As far as the Time-Space Administration Bureau was concerned, the Book of Darkness was an unsolvable problem that could only be delayed temporarily, time and time again.

* * *

**Earth year 1995, Mid-Childan New Calendar year 0054**

The current Book of Darkness case was reaching its conclusion. The current Meister had been captured by admiral Clyde Harlaown and was being taken back to headquarters aboard the Estia. However, Clyde and his space crew were met with unexpected opposition from one of the Meister's Guardian Knights/Wolkenritter, a group of artificial mages created by the Book to assist in the creation of pages. The four of them were presumably killed on the planet the current Meister was arrested on, but one had evidently lived, and it was the strongest of them all: the Knight of the Sword/General of the Raging Fire, Signum.

"What the hell are you doing, Signum?!" The Book's Meister shouted. "You're supposed to be the strongest of the Wolkenritter, aren't you?! How's this government bastard walking all over you?!" After Signum had infiltrated the Estia, she had gotten her Meister out of his cell and was trying to escape with a **Dimensional Transfer**, but then she saw Clyde, the man who orchestrated the deaths of her allies. Despite a fight not being a good idea, Signum's pride got the better of her, and she challenged Clyde to a battle to avenge the Wolkenritter. The two mages raged against each other in the Estia's training space, but it was becoming apparent that Signum was fighting a losing battle.

"I'm sorry…" Signum panted, "but he's stronger than I thought."

"I don't want your damn excuses! I let you get in a fight with this government bastard because a guy like him dying would be a great thing to see, so deliver on that, already!"

"...Right… my apologies…" Signum charged at Clyde with a strike from her Armed Device, Laevatein, but he managed to parry with his Storage Device, Durandal.

"Is this _really _what you're fighting for, Signum?" Clyde asked as the two locked weapons. "An arrogant asshole who only cares about _himself_?!"

"It matters not what I think! My sole duty is to obey my Master, regardless of his intentions!"

"If that's true, then I misjudged you, Signum!" Clyde used all of his strength to push Signum away from him. "We've fought each other many times, and I always respected you, despite us being on opposite sides. However! If you're only reason to fight is to just obey someone blindly, even if he's a Devil in Plain Sight, then you're just pathetic! Rather than only reasons for _having _to fight, you also need reasons for _wanting _to fight!"

"!"

"Let's end this, Durandal."

"**Yes, Boss,**" Durandal said. Clyde flew at Signum with tremendous speed and, taking advantage of the stunned state he had put her in, ran Durandal straight through her stomach. "**Ice Age.**" In an instant, Signum's entire body was frozen solid. When Clyde removed his Device from her stomach, she crumbled into a million pieces.

_Goodbye, Signum, _Clyde thought as he stared at the shattered remains of his opponent. _In your next life, try and find a better motivation for action. _The admiral turned his attention back to the Book's Meister. "It's over. Your Knights have all been vanquished, and your power doesn't come _close _to my own. Quietly go back to your cell, and no one has to get hurt."

"Heh!" The Meister laughed. "As if I'll follow the orders of a government bastard like you! You may have gotten me, but the Book _will _live on!" The Meister then pulled out a gun with a black triangular rune on the magazine that had somehow been concealed from the staff and pointed it at his temple. "LONG LIVE THE BELKAN EMPIRE!" Clyde moved to stop him, but he wasn't fast enough. The man had already shot himself in the head and killed himself.

Immediately after the man's death, the Book of Darkness went berserk and took over the Estia's firing system, preparing to fire the Arc-en-ciel at the other spaceships in the area. Not wanting such a thing to happen, Clyde evacuated the crew, sans himself, and asked admiral Gil Graham to destroy the ship with his own Arc-en-ciel. With a heavy heart, Graham complied and destroyed Clyde, the Estia, and the Book of Darkness, once again putting the Book of Darkness to a temporary end.

* * *

**Earth year 2000, Mid-Childan New Calendar year 0059**

The time had come, once more. After five years of nonexistence, the Book of Darkness would be reborn into the world for a new Meister. The way this worked was that the Will of the Book of Darkness, the Artificial Intelligence that controlled it, would contact its chosen Meister in a pocket dimension of the Book to officially become subservient.

Although Artificial Intelligences didn't need to take on a form that indicated gender, the Will of the Book of Darkness always liked the female form, so it made that its default one. She(though the Will's gender isn't actually tied down to one specific gender, the Will shall be referred to as female from this point, onward) was a tall, busty woman with red eyes and long, white hair wearing a plain black minidress with a gold band around her waist, two more crossing over her chest, a red belt around her neck, fingerless gloves, and armoured black boots with socks of two different lengths. Taking a final note of her appearance, the Will opened the pocket dimension, which took the form of a simple, black void, and approached the one who would be her Meister.

_...Is this for real? _The Will asked herself, as she couldn't believe that the person before her, a crying little girl, was her new Meister. Sure, the Book of Darkness sometimes went to young people, but this girl looked no older than 3. What was even more alarming was the fact that the Will didn't sense an ounce of magic from her, meaning that she was most likely a normal human without a Linker Core; that had most certainly never happened before, so the Will was left feeling even more confused.

_Someone like this can't _really _be my Meister, right? No, she has to be. Only I and the person who has been chosen can appear here, so I shouldn't question it. _

"Rejoice, human," the Will of the Book of Darkness said. "You, amongst the trillions of others like you, have been chosen to possess the Book of Darkness. Enter into this sacred covenant with me, and you shall attain power that rivals the Gods, themselves." A few seconds went by, but the girl made no response. Not knowing what was going on, the Will repeated her speech, but still got nothing from her Meister. After repeating it several more times, each time a bit hammier than the last, the Will of the Book of Darkness finally realized what the problem was: the girl couldn't hear her over her crying.

_Scheiße_(Shit)_. I'm not going to get anywhere like this; I need to calm her down. ...How do I do that? _The Will's interactions with people were always just this, so she had no real experience with actually _dealing _with people. _Let's see… she's a little girl… she's crying… I think there's an action that can calm her down. What was it, again? Starts with an "H", is three letters long… "hit"! I should "hit" her to calm her down! _Believing that to be correct, the Will smacked the back of her Meister's head. She went silent for exactly two seconds before bursting into even louder crying.

_Scheiße! That didn't work! Think, think! What other three-letter action starting with "H" would work here?! ...I feel stupid, right now. _It was then that the Will figured out the correct action and did it: she gave her Meister a "hug". It seemed to be working, too, as the girl stopped crying after about a minute.

"Are you feeling better?" The Will asked.

"I… I think so…" the girl said. "Um, Shirokami-san(Ms. White Hair), I'm having trouble breathing…" It was then that the Will realized that she was pressing her Meister's face into her chest with a good amount of force; for some reason, the Will's face became a bit red.

"S-Sorry." The Will released her Meister from her bosom, allowing her to get a good look at her. The right side of her hair was adorned with three decorations: two yellow hair clips that looked like diagonal lines and one that looked like a red "X". What really drew the Will's interest, though, was her face, completely innocent, and free of any sort of darkness. For such a person to have to bear this burden…

"Why were you crying?" She should have just gone back to establishing the covenant, but for some reason, the Will felt the need to start a dialogue.

"My… my mom and… my dad…" She started crying again.

_They must have died. _"You have my condolences."

"?" The girl stopped her crying. "'Congolences'?"

"Con_do_lences."

"What are those?"

"It means I feel sorry for your loss."

"Oh… thank you, Shirokami-san."

_Now. I should do it now. _"Rejoice, hu-"

"Where are we, Shirokami-san?"

_? No one's ever questioned this place, before. She's three, so she won't get that's it's a pocket dimension… _"This is… a magic realm, where your imaginations can run wild."

"Really?"

"Yes… if you want it to be." The Will had no idea where that last part came from.

"Then… can you make it something less creepy?"

"If you so wish it." The Will held out her hand as a white Ancient Belkan magic circle appeared beneath her feet. The dark void broke apart like glass, and in its place stood an entirely new landscape: a giant, magnificent garden.

"Wooooooooow! It's beautiful!" The girl's face immediately lit up, making the Will feel unexpectedly pleased.

Now _is a good time. _"Rejoice, hu-"

"Let's play hide-and-seek!"

"? 'Hide-and-seek'?"

"Yeah! It's my favorite game! I used to play it… all the time… with my parents…" Tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Okay, okay, we can play! Please don't cry again!" The Will had no idea why she cared whether or not the girl cried.

"Yay! You go hide, Shirokami-san! I'll be it!"

"...No peeking," the Will said with a smirk as she ran off to hide.

* * *

It always just took a minute for the Will of the Book of Darkness to form the covenant with her Meister in the past, but with this girl, two hours had passed in the pocket dimension, and nothing of the sort had yet to take place. The two of them had been playing hide-and-seek the whole time, the Will constantly changing the landscape to give them more places to hide.

_Just why am I doing this? _The Will thought as she hid in a bush. _I'm just supposed to confirm the covenant with my Meister and leave, not play silly games! I'm supposed to do just that… but when I look at that girl…_

"Found you, Shirokami-san!" The girl said, discovering the Will's hiding spot.

_...I just… can't find it in me…_

* * *

After that, the Will's Meister got bored and hungry, so the Will used her magic to summon a table with a teapot, two cups, and a tray of cookies on it.

"Do you like the tea?" The Will asked. "It's Space Darjeeling."

"It's really good!" The girl said, though she didn't know what "Shirokami-san" meant by _Space _Darjeeling. "These cookies are good, too! Thank you, Shirokami-san!"

"You're welcome."

"...You know, Shirokami-san, now that my parents are… dead, I don't have any family."

"You don't? You don't have any siblings? Cousins? Grandparents?" The girl shook her head.

"Everyone else died a while ago, way before I was born. I think my parents might have told me about it, but I don't really remember. The point, though, is that it means I'm all alone… Their deaths already made me really sad, but when that sank in… I didn't know what to do…" The girl began to frown, making the Will feel sad. "...But then… but then I met _you_, Shirokami-san."

"?"

"We… we don't even know each other, yet you still hugged me, showed concern for me, even played with me! No one's ever been that nice to me, before, so…" The girl looked at the Will with a great smile, "thank you for being with me, Shirokami-san! If I have a friend like you, then I can definitely get through this!"

_...I can't do it. I… I just can't. _The Will of the Book of Darkness stood up from the table and started to walk away.

"Where are you going, Shirokami-san?" The Will stopped her walking.

"I… I don't know."

"When can I see you again?"

"...Never."

"?!"

_I'm sorry, but I can't let someone as pure and innocent and kind as you become my Meister. A person like you shouldn't have to bear the burden of possessing me. I won't allow you to form a covenant with me, little one. I'm not sure what will happen as a result, but anything would be better than that._

"I have to go now. Goodbye. It was… nice meeting you." The Will went back to walking away from her would-be Meister.

"DON'T GO!" The girl yelled, making the Will stop in her tracks, once more. "Please don't go, Shirokami-san! I want to keep playing with you!"

"...I'm sorry, but it's for the best."

"No, no it isn't!"

"What are you basing that on?"

"On the fact that I _say _it isn't!"

"?"

"I say it _isn't _the best thing to do, so it isn't!" The girl then got up from her seat, ran over to the Will, and hugged her from behind. "Please… please don't go. I already lost my family… I don't want to lose a friend…"

_...Scheiße._ _Why... Why can't I go against her? _"...If you truly want me to stay, then that will mean taking on a heavy burden."

"A 'burden'?"

"I… A lot of people don't like me. They'll want to try and hurt me… and they'll try and hurt you for being with me…"

"I won't let them! _I'll_ protect _you_, and _you'll_ protect _me_!"

"...There could even come a moment when, through no control of my own… I would try and hurt you…"

"I already told you, I'll protect you, Shirokami-san! I won't let you hurt anyone, okay?"

_There's no way. There's no way she could do these things… yet I feel like I can believe her. _"Do you really mean that?" The girl nodded her head. "...Then I will stay with you."

"Thank you…" The Will moved her Meister's arms away and turned back towards her.

"Right now, you can think of this as a dream. When you awake, you won't remember what happened here, but the warmth you're feeling right now will stay." _As will the warmth I am feeling. _"It will be a while before you see me again, but I won't be gone." The Will put a finger against her Meister's chest. "I'll be right here. In your heart." The girl then put a hand against the Will's chest.

"Me, too. I'll be in your heart, too." That statement made something strange happen. The Will of the Book of Darkness started bleeding out of her eyes, only the blood wasn't red, and its texture was closer to that of water. What exactly was she doing, and why did this girl cause it to happen? She wasn't able to answer either of these questions as her body transformed into a white orb that flew into her Meister's chest.

* * *

For some reason, despite her current circumstances, Hayate Yagami awoke feeling very happy. She got out of bed and headed towards the kitchen to make herself some breakfast; for some reason, her legs felt rather sore, but it was probably nothing. When she got into the kitchen, she noticed something odd on the counter: a book that she had never seen before.

_Where'd this come from? _Hayate thought as she picked it up. _It's got all these chains on it. … _Hayate stood the book up and had it face her. _I guess it's still a nice book._

* * *

**Fox: Yeah, so this beginning ended up being more of a prologue. Sorry for that.**

**Pie: You should be.**

**Fox: Quiet, you!**


	9. Digging Your Own Grave, Nano

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release. **

* * *

**December 2nd., Earth year 2006, Mid-Childan New Calendar year 0065**

Today was the day. Today was Fate and Arf's final trial. After six months of going in and out of the courtroom, today's trial would determine whether or not they could be acquitted from their involvement with Precia in the Jewel Seed incident.

The trial was being conducted in the headquarters of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. The witness seats were already filled to capacity(Chrono and Yuuno being two of its occupants), as the trial of "TSAB vs. Testarossa" had gained a large amount of attention from people in the Bureau due to the nature of it.

_Why are there so many people here when this is a _private _trial? _Fate thought in her defendant's chair. _All of these people are making me nervous…_

_Just ignore them, Fate! _Arf said with Telepathy. _We just need to do everything we've done at the last few trials, and we'll be in the clear!_

_...Yeah… we will… _Fate couldn't wait to be officially free. Once that happened, she could finally return to Earth and the Takamachis, again. Sure, she and that family had been exchanging videos for the past six months, but seeing them in person was an entirely different experience. Not even the highest quality camera could completely capture Kyouya stoic, yet cool air, Miyuki's pleasant laughter, Shirou's enjoyably calm demeanor, Momoko's wonderful kindness(and wonderful cooking), and, what Fate looked forward to the most as she rubbed one of the pink ribbons in her hair, Nanoha's beautiful smile.

_That's the spirit! Nothing can possibly go wrong! _At that moment, the prosecution stepped into the room. It was a fat man with a pointed beard who had a very stern expression as he sat down.

_Nice job jinxing us, Arf, _Lindy, who was acting as their attorney, thought to the familiar. _Now we've gotta deal with _him_!_

_Wait, who _is _that guy?_

_Lieutenant general Regius Gaiz. He has near complete control of the Army, and absolutely zero tolerance for criminals! He's been bad news for people in your's and Fate's situation ever since his beard got all spiky!_

_Right… _Yuuno thought, not seeing that last bit as highly relevant. _Doesn't this guy have anything better to do than try and put little girls in jail?_

_Apparently not, _Chrono responded. _The other prosecutors went a bit easy on Fate and Arf after learning their sob story, but there's no way he'll do the same. This could get bad, very fast... _

* * *

Chrono was entirely accurate with his statement. The whole trial, Regius was in complete control of everything. He countered every statement and defense Lindy brought up with a ruthless counterattack, making Fate and Arf lose nearly all of their support, and the familiar wasn't exactly being helpful.

"You can't send Fate to jail! You can't!" Arf cried as she pinched Fate's cheeks. "Look at her face! Look at her little face!"

"Let go of my face before I lock you in a kennel," Fate said, her familiar immediately doing so.

"Fate is far too cute for jail! If you lock her up, she'll be thrown onto the bathroom floor more times than you can count!" A multitude of gasps were let out.

_What does she mean, Lindy-san? Would people try to fight me? _Fate asked with Telepathy.

_Um… yes… _Lindy responded with a hand to her face. _I'm getting demoted, for sure…_

"Your Honor, this is all _very _irrelevant," Regius said.

"Yes, but I'll allow it," the judge said. Apparently he had a soft spot for the defendants. "Arf, it _should _be noted that if the two of you are found guilty, you would be sent to a women's correctional facility."

"I stand by my statement!" Arf shouted. "In fact, now that I know there'd only be women, I'm even _more _certain of that scenario!" Arf then turned towards the jury. "Do you really want that on your conscience? Sending a little girl off to-" Arf kept talking, but Lindy covered Fate's ears so she couldn't hear what was being said; this, however, didn't stop Fate from seeing the weird movements Arf was making with her body. After about a minute, Lindy removed her hands.

"And _this_ is the hand that will start it all!" Arf said, holding up her right hand towards the jury. "I rest my case!" Arf went back to her seat with a pleased grin. What she did right then was utterly stupid, but whispers in their favor _could _be heard now.

_I can't believe that worked! _Lindy thought. _We might actually win this!_

"We will now hear closing statements," the judge said. "First, the prosecution." Regius stood from his seat.

"Your Honor, ladies and gentleman of the jury," Regius began, "I have been with the Bureau for thirty years. For thirty years, I have done everything within my power to protect the innocent, even when met with apprehension from _some _groups." Regius flashed a quick glare towards Lindy, alluding to the ongoing conflict between the Army and the Navy. "I have done far more to protect those who need in my thirty years than most have done in their entire lives, and I refuse to let all of that go to waste by allowing criminals like _these two _to walk around freely!

"What does it matter that they're young?! What does it matter that they got us a few Lost Logia and old data?! At the end of the day, a criminal is a criminal, and I'll be _damned _if I let a criminal walk away from just punishment!" Regius sat down, his statement finished.

"Does the defense have anything to say?" Lindy began to stand, but Fate put a hand in front of her, signaling for her to stop as she, herself, stood up.

"Lieutenant general Regius Gaiz… what is 'evil', to you?" Fate asked.

"? Anything that goes against the Bureau," Regius responded.

"So does simply doing what the Bureau says make someone 'good'? If so, then that's a rather narrow-minded idea of 'good' and 'evil'."

_Forget a demotion, I'm getting fired! _Lindy cried in her head.

"You have some _nerve_, brat!" Regius shouted. "What gives you the right to challenge my views?!"

"The fact that the things you're saying contradict your true thoughts!" Fate said.

"?!"

"Isn't it true that you have a daughter, sir?"

"? Yes."

"Do you love her?"

"Yes."

"Would you do anything to protect her?"

"Of course!"

"Even if it made people see you as 'evil'?"

"?! …"

_Gotcha. _"It's only natural to think like that; you're a parent who loves his child. In that case, what makes you different from my mother other than the fact that nothing ever pushed you into 'evil'? My mother, Precia Testarossa, only wanted her daughter, her _world_, to return to her. What's so crazy about sacrificing everything for someone you love?! If something like that makes you a criminal, then Arf and I are proud to have helped my mother!" Fate sat down after that. The entire courtroom was struck silent. Then, after a few seconds, Arf started a slow clap. Yuuno soon joined in, followed by Chrono, then Lindy, and soon, the entire courtroom was applauding Fate.

_It's working! _Lindy thought as the judge banged his gavel for silence. _That jury just needs one more push!_ Lindy stood up from her seat. "Ladies and gentlemen of this _supposed_ jury, I have one final thing I want you to consider."

_No! Not _that_! _Chrono thought.

_What? Is she going to do something that will cost them the trial?! _Yuuno asked with Telepathy.

_No, they're going to win… but it's just so stupid…_

"Ladies and gentleman…" An HUD appeared in front of Lindy that showed a picture of some sort of hairy beast, "_this_ is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca _lives_ on the planet Endor. Now think about it; _that does not make sense!_"

"Dammit!" Regius cursed. "She's using the Chewbacca Defense!"

"Why would a Wookiee, an 8-foot-tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of 2-foot-tall Ewoks? That does _not make sense!_ But more important, you have to ask yourself: What does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It _does not make sense!_ Look at me. I'm an admiral putting my reputation on the line defending these two girls, and I'm talkin' about Chewbacca! Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense! None of this makes sense! And so you have to remember, when you're in that jury room deliberatin' and conjugatin', does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does _not make sense!_ If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests." Lindy sat down with a triumphant grin.

* * *

After Lindy's brilliant(?) defense, the jury went to come to a decision. They returned to the courtroom after but a few minutes.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge asked.

"We have, your honor," one of the jurors said. "We find the defendants… not guilty."

"Oh no! We're going to jail!" Arf cried. Fate then whispered something in her ear. "Not guilty is the good one? Then… yay!" The dog woman gave Fate a big hug that was soon joined by Lindy while the witnesses all cheered. Regius, in the midst of this, left the courtroom in silence, thinking about giving Auris a call, later.

* * *

After the trial, Lindy called for what she felt to be the only appropriate thing: a kickass party aboard the Asura.

"I am the greatest lawyer, ever~!" Lindy shouted at the aforementioned kickass party, already a little drunk.

"Yes, well, thank you…" Fate said, a bit embarrassed for the admiral.

"Hey, lighten up, Feight!" Lindy handed her a bottle of Space Coors Light. "Have a drink, why dontcha?" Before Fate could politely refuse, Chrono grabbed the bottle out of his mother's hands and gave it to Arf.

"Mo- Admiral, I'd like to remind you that the Asura is a Mid-Childan spaceship," Chrono said. "As such, we are bound by Mid-Childan law, and on Mid-Childa, you have to be _12 _to drink alcohol!"

"So I can drink this? Sweet!" Arf exclaimed as she drank from the bottle as she had just turned 2 in dog years, meaning she was 14 in people years.

"On the other hand, Fate, you _are _old enough to smoke. Can I get you a cigar?"

"That… That's alright… Lindy-san, do you think I can talk to Nanoha and tell her the good news?"

"I dozee why not! Amy, setupa videlinky with Nanoha's Device!" Lindy exclaimed.

"Yes, ma'am!" Amy responded. The ensign pressed various buttons on a keyboard before what sounded like a ringtone could be heard. It rang for about ten seconds before an HUD with the word "ERROR" appeared. "That's weird. I can't connect to Nanoha-chan's Device."

"What?! Why not?!" Fate asked.

"If I had to guess… I'd say that an evil mage has set up a Barrier over Nanoha's town to block outside communications while said evil mage tries to kill Nanoha," Lindy said, somehow regaining coherency. "...Kidding! Like that could actually-" Lindy turned to Fate to see the look on her face, but the girl had vanished. "Wow… that was fast, even for her."

"You _did _kind of present an unsettling scenario," Yuuno pointed out.

"Right. ...You know, there _could _actually be something going on. Chrono, go to Nanoha's city to bring Fate back and take Yuuno and Arf with you just in case something's happening, down there."

"Yes, ma'am!" Chrono said with a salute.

"As for me, I'm gonna-"

"Party's over, people! Time to get back to work!" Everyone groaned as they headed back to their stations.

"Hey!"

"Sorry to go against rank, but we can't have you all partying while we deal with a potential threat."

"...Fine. Imma hedzu my chair…" Lindy staggered towards her chair before falling flat on her face.

"...Amy, please take my mother to bed." Amy gave Chrono a quick nod before slinging the admiral over her back and carrying her away from the bridge.

* * *

**Earlier, in Nanoha's room**

To say that Nanoha was happy was an understatement; the girl was positively ecstatic. Tonight, at any second, she was going to get a call from Lindy Harlaown about the result of Fate and Arf's trial. Even though there wasn't a guarantee that they would be pronounced innocent, Nanoha chose to believe with all her heart that they would. As soon as they were, Fate would come back to Earth, and she and Nanoha could keep being friends… Arf, too. Nothing could possibly ruin Nanoha's mood, right now.

"**Caution. Emergency.**" Except that. Nanoha turned to the Device on her desk to question the message, but at that exact moment, she knew what the problem was: a Barrier was put up by someone.

"**It approaches at high speed.**"

"This person's getting closer?!" Nanoha asked. "...Let's go, Raging Heart."

* * *

Even though people without Linker Cores couldn't exist within a Barrier and destruction caused to the environment vanished after the Barrier did, Nanoha didn't feel comfortable staying at her home when she was most likely going to get into a fight, so she relocated herself to the rooftop of a building downtown. Despite knowing that this mystery mage probably didn't want to sit down for tea and cookies(or as (s)he would probably put it, Space Tea and Space Cookies), Nanoha remained a little optimistic and didn't activate her Device nor don her Barrier Jacket, hoping that violence could be avoided.

"**Homing bullet.**" Apparently that wasn't going to happen as she saw a metal ball fly at her incredibly fast. Not being able to dodge in time, Nanoha cast **Round Shield** and blocked the attack.

_This attack feels strong… probably an A-rank spell… _Nanoha thought as she maintained her shield. _But I think I can hold my defense until the mana runs out and the spell-_

"Mein mein mein mein mein mein mein mein," Nanoha turned to see a little redheaded girl wearing a red Gothic Lolita-style dress with black frills and yellow ribbons, a large red hat with plush rabbit heads, and black and red boots coming at her with a hammer, most likely her Device. "Mein mein mein mein MEIN!" The girl swung at Nanoha with her hammer, but Nanoha was able to block with a second **Round Shield**. However, Nanoha didn't have the strength to block both attacks at once with her Device unactivated, so she was blasted off the roof.

"Raging Heart, please!" Nanoha shouted as she fell.

"**Standby ready. Set up,**" Raging Heart said, putting itself into Device Mode and allowing Nanoha to don her Barrier Jacket. With this, Nanoha was able to stop her descent by activating her flying abilities, cast **Flier Fin** to increase her speed, and fly up to be in alignment with her attacker.

"Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"

"Ich habe nicht mich zu erklären, Mädchen(I don't have to explain myself, girl)," the redhead said.

"...Nani(What)?" Nanoha asked, not understanding her at all.

_Muss eine native zu diesem Land, genau wie sein Hayate_(Must be a native to this country, just like Hayate)_, _the redhead thought. _Bessere wechseln Sie die Sprache Nummer zwei_(Better switch to language #2)_. _"I said that I don't have to explain myself, girl!" Nanoha was both relieved that this girl was now speaking Japanese and annoyed that she didn't feel the need to explain herself.

"If you won't talk, willingly, then I'll _make _you open up!" Nanoha activated **Divine Shooter **and fired energy orbs at the girl, but she blocked with something that _looked _like a red version of her **Round Shield**, but it was in the shape of a triangle.

"You little Schlampe(Bitch)!" She charged at Nanoha and swung with her Device, but Nanoha evaded her with **Flash Move **and got behind her.

"**Flash Impact**," Raging Heart said as Nanoha hit her opponent with her Device, sending her back a bit with an explosion.

"Heh! Looks like you've got some fight in you, girl."

"My name isn't 'girl', it's Nanoha Takamachi, and this is my Device, Raging Heart! I'm gonna ask you again, now: who are you?!" The redhead still had no intention of introducing herself, but Nanoha seemed to be emitting an aura of intimidation that said "Do what I say, or I'll blow your head off!"

"...Fine. My name is Vita, the Knight of the Iron Hammer. This is my Device, the Iron Count, Graf Eisen. You know our names, and now you know what you're going to do."

"What?"

"Die."

"?!" Four metallic orbs appeared in front of Vita.

"**Schwalbefliegen,**" Graf Eisen said as Vita smacked each orb at Nanoha like she was playing croquet. Nanoha dodged them and expected them to fly into a building, but they curved _around_ a building and flew at her, once more.

"**Running would be best,**" Raging Heart said. Nanoha nodded and started flying away from Vita's attack, though the orbs maintained their pursuit.

"You can run all you want, Nantoka-"

"Nanoha!" Nanoha corrected.

"but my spell's gonna follow you, wherever you go!" This gave Nanoha an idea. As the Earth mage rounded another corner, she headed right towards Vita, bringing **Schwalbefliegen **right with her.

"Really?! You think _that _will work?! Even back in Belka, that trick had been done over a million-"

"**Strike Smasher!**" Nanoha fired a cherry blossom beam from her right hand at Vita. The Knight of the Iron Hammer, though, blocked with her **Round Shield**-esque shield, causing a cloud of smoke to form from the collision. When it vanished, Nanoha was gone, and because Vita's concentration was lost, the four orbs were heading right towards her.

"Verfickte Schlampe(Fucking bitch)!" Vita cursed as she flew up and dodged her **Schwalbefliegen, **causing the orbs to fly into a building and explode. "Where'd she- GHAAAAH!" Vita was immediately cut off by Nanoha flying down to her from above and slamming Raging Heart into the top of her skull.

"Now say you're sorry!" Nanoha then smacked Vita in the face with her staff. Repeatedly.

"**Shooting Mode,**" Raging Heart said, transforming.

"Are you sorry, yet?!" Nanoha asked as she pointed her staff at Vita.

_I think I peed, a little… _Vita thought.

"**Divine…**"

_Scheiße! _Vita didn't have enough time to dodge, and her shield spell, **Panzerschild,** wouldn't hold at this distance.

"**BUSTER!**" Then, at the last second, Vita had an idea. She quickly deactivated her flying abilities, causing her to fall towards the ground and dodge the attack. When the beam vanished, she reactivated her flying abilities and flew back up.

"Alright, Nantoka-"

"Nanoha!"

"now I'm _really _gonna… wait a minute." For some reason, the top of Vita's head felt lighter than it had, a moment ago. Quickly, Vita put a hand on her head and felt not her hat, but the top of her head, meaning that just enough of "Nantoka's" spell hit her to destroy her hat(In actuality, though, it was just blown off). "...VERFICKTE SCHLAMPE!" Vita had a scowl from the beginning, but the one she gained right then was far more menacing than the one Nanoha was looking at, before.

"Graf Eisen, Cartridge Load!" A red Ancient Belkan magic circle appeared beneath Vita's feet.

"**Explosion,**" Graf Eisen said. The top of the hammer extended and slammed down into the main part, causing what looked like a rifle's round to fly out. "**Raketenform.**" The hammer part of Graf Eisen changed so that one part had a rocket thruster, and another had some sort of spike.

"**Raketen...**" Fire shot out of the thruster as Vita spun around in a circle before launching herself at Nanoha, "**hammer!**" Nanoha quickly cast **Round Shield** to defend herself, but her shield immediately started to crack.

_She's breaking my shield?! I thought Devices only changed forms to do different attacks, but does __her __strength_ also _change,_ _depending on the form of her Device?! _Then, **Round Shield** broke, forcing Nanoha to block with Raging Heart, but Vita's attack started chipping away at the staff before she increased the force of her swing and knocked her into a building. Nanoha was still relatively fine, her Barrier Jacket undamaged, and only a few shards of glass lodged into her flesh, but Raging Heart looked terribly damaged.

"Raging Heart…"

"**I… can still… go…**" the Device said, clearly in bad shape.

"I'm so sorry. I-"

"Kidney punch!" While Nanoha conversed with her Device, she stopped paying attention to her surroundings, allowing Vita to fly into the building and give Nanoha quick jab to the stomach.

"GAH!"

"Kidney punch! Kidney punch! Kidney punch! And pause… kidney punch!" That last punch sent Nanoha flying into the wall. "**Raketenhammer!**" Vita loaded another Cartridge and swung at Nanoha, once again, this time directly at her chest. It hit her, dead center, but Nanoha activated **Reactor Purge**, disintegrating the jacket portion of her Barrier Jacket and negating all of the damage.

"...That hat… someone very important in my life gave it to me… and what you did pissed me off…" Vita raised Graf Eisen up into the air. "Auf Wiedersehen(Goodbye)." With a tremendous battle cry, Vita swung her hammer at Nanoha, but suddenly, a girl got in her way and blocked her attack with what looked like an axe.

_Fate-chan! _Nanoha thought, a smile emerging on her face.

_It's just like Lindy-san said! An evil mage is trying to kill Nanoha! _Fate thought to herself, still not realizing that the admiral, even though it ended up being true to a certain degree, was joking.

"Hey!" Vita shouted. "Who the hell are-"

"**Blitz Action,**" Bardiche said as Fate zipped right in front of Vita and pointed Bardiche at her.

"**Thunder Smasher!**" Fate shouted, blasting the redhead with a powerful blast of electricity that sent her flying.

"**Magnetic Anchor.**" Fate pointed Bardiche at Graf Eisen, setting up a magnetic link between the two Devices and allowing Fate to pull Vita back into the building and slam her into the ground.

"Verfickte... schlampe…" Fate pointed her Device at Vita. "Waitwaitwaitwait!"

"You hurt my best friend to such a degree and expect me to _wait_?!" Fate shouted. In the back of the room, Nanoha couldn't help but blush at Fate calling her her "best friend".

"I… I'm sorry! Please just let me go!" Vita, of course, wasn't sorry, but she didn't think she could beat this girl after taking that last attack, so it seemed like a good idea to run away.

"...On my planet, we _do _believe in forgiveness for one's actions."

"Phew! That's-"

"But we're not _on_ my planet, are we?"

"...Uh…" Fate immediately cast **Thunder Smasher**, hitting Vita point-blank and knocking her out.

"...It's good to see you again, Nanoha," Fate said, turning to Nanoha with a smile and acting like that moment of brutality never happened.

"Yeah… same here, Fate-chan…" Nanoha said.

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

**Fox: You know what's weird? This chapter included a trial, but not one reference to **_**Ace Attorney **_**was made!**

**Pie: That **_**is **_**peculiar.**

**Fox: Yep. Also, the stuff Lindy said about Chewbacca was all true. In this story, **_**Star Wars**_ **actually happened.**

**Pie: Nanoha's not going to have to fight Darth Vader, is she?**

**Fox: Of course not! All that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.**

**Pie: ...Right...**


	10. Wake Up Call, Nano

**Fox: I'd like to thank the guest who reviewed the last chapter and pointed out the mistakes I made with the German(I was using Google Translate, so I feel my errors are justified). I've changed Vita's swearing to what you suggested, but I decided to keep the other lines the same. For the first one, if you say it sounds old-fashioned, that actually makes sense, since the Wolkenritter are hundreds of years old, and I specifically wanted Vita to say "country", so I've kept the second one, the same. Even though I only changed one thing, thanks for the help. If anyone else has suggestions, feel free to give them! :)**

**Pie: By the way, if you didn't **_**like **_**the German… deal with it, 'cause it's staying. **

* * *

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release. **

* * *

When Chrono, Yuuno, and Arf arrived in Uminari, they were surprised to learn two things: a Barrier was cast over the town, and Lindy was actually right about something, for a change. Knowing that there was indeed trouble, the three mages flew into the Barrier to help Nanoha and Fate. A few minutes later, though, the Barrier vanished, leading them to the conclusion that Nanoha and Fate were able to defeat the enemy mage. Immediately after that, Arf was able to get a good lock on Fate's scent, allowing them to find the girls.

"Nanoha!" Yuuno exclaimed. "Are you al- ...what happened here?" Yuuno, like Chrono and Arf, was rather surprised to see a beat-up Nanoha sitting against a wall next to Fate and a redheaded girl, obviously the enemy mage, passed out on the floor.

"Yuuno-kun! Arf-san! Chrono-kun!" Nanoha exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to help you and Fate… but it doesn't look like it was necessary," Arf said.

"Nyahaha-ow! It hurts to laugh… Yuuno-kun?"

"Right," Yuuno said, walking over to Nanoha and casting **Physical Heal.**

"I'm guessing Nanoha was in this state when you first arrived, Fate," Chrono said.

"...Yes," Fate replied.

"So you were the one who defeated that redhead?"

"That's right."

"Fate, you're a Contract Mage, now! You work for the Bureau, so you can't just beat the crap out of people! ...Unless they resist arrest, of course. _Did_ she resist arrest?"

"...It never came up…"

"What?! Why?!"

"Stop yelling at Fate-chan!" Nanoha shouted. "She was just protecting me!"

"That-That's right!" Fate said. "I saw Nanoha being attacked, being in a very damaged state, and I just…"

_I think I get it, now,_ Chrono thought to himself. _She pushed the Takamachi Button. She shouldn't have done that. _From being around Fate for the past six months, Chrono had concluded that the girl was very attached to the members of the Takamachi household, and trying to do harm to them in any way was a terrible idea. One day, he and Fate got into a huge argument over whether or not Lindy's cooking was better than Momoko's; the girl's anger showed the next day during her Contract Mage examination when she utterly destroyed Chrono.

"...Well… at least you apprehended her. I'll let it slide, since you just won your trial."

"You won your trial, Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked, the girl in question simply nodding. "That's so great!"

"You know… it was _my _trial, too…" Arf said. After that, the three girls went off into random conversation, Yuuno occasionally joining in.

_Who is this girl, anyway? _Chrono asked himself as he leaned over her. _...Wait a minute. That height... that hairstyle… that Armed Device… I recognize these things from the reports my father made 11 years ago! Is she… _

"Nanoha!" Chrono shouted, interrupting the conversation. "Did you catch the name of this girl and her Device?"

"Huh? Um… yeah. I think she said her name was 'Vita'-chan and her Device was named 'Graf Eisen'."

"What system of magic was she using? Mid-Childan? Belkan?"

"Um…"

_Guess ferret boy never taught her about that. _"Whenever a magic circle would appear around her, was it a circle with a square in it, or was it a triangle?"

"Oh! It was a triangle. Why are you asking this stuff, Chrono-kun?"

"...Mother! Can you hear me?!"

_Uh… what is it? _Lindy's voice sounded in their minds, the admiral sounding a bit groggy from a combination of being woken up and still being a little drunk.

"Remember how we were getting reports of agents and large animals being drained of their Linker Cores?"

_Yeah…_

"Remember how we theorized it was… that?"

_...Yeah… _Lindy wasn't liking where this was going.

"You might have just been messing with Fate," Fate threw a quizzical look at Chrono, "but Nanoha _was _being attacked by a mage… and it's Vita of the Wolkenritter!"

_...Get her back to the Asura right now. As soon as she wakes up, we're questioning her on the Book's new Meister!_

"Roger!" Telepathic communications were cut off after that.

"What's going on, Chrono-kun?" Nanoha asked. "What are you and Lindy-san talking about?" Fate, Arf, and Yuuno looked equally confused.

"I'll explain, later! For now, let's get back to the Asura!" Chrono activated the **Dimensional Transfer** spell to take them back to the Asura, but just as their bodies started to vanish, they immediately came back in full form. "?"

"Why didn't the spell work?" Yuuno asked.

"I think I know why," Fate said, pointing Bardiche towards the outside. Everyone looked in that direction to see that Uminari was once again covered in a Barrier. "I just noticed it after the spell failed. It appears that 'Vita' wasn't alone." Fate then picked Nanoha up and hoisted her on her back like she was giving her a piggyback ride. "Whoever it is might not know where we are, so let's destroy the barrier before we're found out."

"Good idea," Chrono said, imitating Fate's action with Vita as they all flew out of the building.

* * *

Signum and Shamal hadn't planned on getting involved with tonight's Linker Core hunt, as it was their turn to watch Hayate. Neither expected any difficulties, so when the two women not only felt Vita go into prolonged conflict, but her actually get defeated, they knew that something was wrong. Luckily, Hayate said that she needed some new sewing needles, so they were able to use buying some more for her as an excuse to get out of the house and helping Vita and Zafira.

As soon as Signum and Shamal got to the area Vita and Zafira went to, Signum put up another Barrier to trap their opponents. Afterwards, they split up: Shamal to find Zafira, and Signum to confront the enemy. After a minute of flight, Signum found her opponent… or, rather, _opponents_.

_I wasn't expecting multiple adversaries,_ Signum thought as she saw four mages fly out of a building, a blonde girl having an auburn-haired girl on her back, and a black-haired boy carrying Vita on his back. _It looks like only the little girls have Devices activated, so it was probably just them who defeated Vita. Nevertheless, they _all _need to go down. _Signum gripped the hilt of her Armed Device, Laevatein, and focused on the mages flying towards the edge of the barrier.

_I'd rather not attack so dishonorably, but I can't let them take one of my allies. One is injured, and another has Vita… I'll aim for the youngest boy._ "**Kūga**(Sky Fang)!" Signum quickly drew her blade, sending a blast of air at her target.

* * *

"Okay, Arf," Yuuno started, "this Barrier looks tough, but I think we might be able to destroy it, together."

"Yeah!" Arf cheered. "Let's… something's coming your way."

"Hm?" Yuuno turned around to see what looked like a blast of wind coming towards him. "Ah!" The archaeologist quickly cast **Round Shield** and blocked the attack, though the Shield became rather cracked.

"We've got company," Chrono stated. A new person, a swordswoman with a long, dark-pink ponytail, came into view when the dust from the sneak attack cleared.

"So…" she started, immediately giving off an intimidating aura, "which of you defeated Vita?" Everyone immediately pointed to Fate.

_Et tu, Nanoha? _Fate thought.

"Well, then, while all of you shall be defeated here, you shall be the first to-!" The woman immediately stopped talking when she caught sight of Chrono.

* * *

_Is that… no, it can't be, _Signum thought. _After our revival, I had Shamal secretly look up the information regarding what happened after my defeat, and Clyde Harlaown died, soon after. He looks a little like him, though…_

"What is it?" The boy in question asked, having activated his Device in anticipation of a fight.

"What's your name, kid?"

"? Chrono Harlaown. Time-Space Administration Bureau Enforcer and Dimensional Navy commodore."

"'Harlaown', eh? That man _did _mention a son in a few offhand comments who would be your age, about now."

"! You knew my father?! ...Wait… are you…"

"Yes. My name is Signum, the Knight of the Sword, General of Raging Fire, and leader of the Wolkenritter. In the hundreds of years that I have held these titles, your father, Clyde Harlaown, was one of the only people to defeat me. Now… let's see if you can do the same!" Signum flew at Chrono with a sword thrust, the latter barely blocking with **Round Shield,** though the tip of Laevatein was already cracking it.

Line

_Hey! Just what the hell is she talking about?! _Arf asked, telepathically.

_No time to explain!_ Chrono responded. _Yuuno, put Vita in a __**Round Guarder **__and Nanoha in a __**Round Guarder Extend**__, then help Arf take down the Barrier! Fate, you and I are going to take this one on!_

"Right!" Fate and Yuuno said, simultaneously. Fate handed Nanoha over to Yuuno, who then flew over to a building with Arf, and flew towards Signum while switching Bardiche to **Scythe Form**.

"So, you need assistance from others?" Signum asked Chrono as what looked like a rifle round flew out of Laevatein as a voice shouted, "**Explosion**". A second later, Signum's sword was covered in flames. "You disappoint me, son of Clyde!" Chrono's **Round Shield** immediately shattered. "**Shiden Issen!**" Signum got directly in front of Chrono and slashed at his chest; though he was able to move in time to avoid a critical hit, the force of impact sent him flying into a building.

"**Scythe Slash,**" Bardiche sounded out as Fate launched an attack from behind. However, Signum was able to, surprisingly, completely block with her sheath.

"You're pretty fast, for a child. However, it takes more than speed to win a battle!" The swordswoman threw a slash towards Fate's Device, but she was able to dodge with **Blitz Action.**

"Seems to be working for me," Fate said as she vanished from sight with another **Blitz Action. **She then kept repeating the spell to constantly change her location.

_…_ Signum re-sheathed her blade, closed her eyes, and put herself in a drawing stance. As she did, a purple light began to form around her body. Then, without warning, Signum opened her eyes and moved with incredible speed to a spot in the air 6 meters to her left, putting herself right in front of Fate.

"!"

"**Senkūga**(Sky-piercing Fang)!" The purple light around Signum vanished as she quickly drew her and sent out a blast of razor-sharp wind even stronger than the one released with **Kūga, **cutting Bardiche in half, ripping through her Barrier Jacket, and, like Chrono, sending her flying into a building.

"I told you…"

* * *

"For the last time, _no_, Nanoha!" Yuuno shouted as he finished putting her and Vita in a **Round Guarder Extend **and **Round Guarder, **respectively. "You have to stay here and heal!"

"But Yuuno-kun!" Nanoha protested. At that moment, Fate and Chrono flew back into the air, the former's Device being repaired, and fired off **Photon Lancer **and **Blaze Cannon, **respectively.

"See? They'll be fine."

"But Signum-san just dodged both of their attacks!"

"_-san"? _Yuuno didn't understand Nanoha's habit of adding honorifics to the names of enemies. "They'll be fine! Even if you want to help, both you and your Device are too damaged for combat, so just stay here, okay?!"

"...Okay," Nanoha said with a pout.

"Thank you. I'm going to help Arf with the Barrier; don't move around or cast any spells, or that will cancel it."

"Right…" Yuuno flew away from Nanoha, the girl looking noticeably annoyed.

* * *

"Alright, Arf, I'm ready to… huh?!" When Yuuno arrived at the edge of the Barrier to help Arf shatter it, but he was treated to a surprising sight: Arf in wolf form in a staring contest with what appeared to be a blue wolf with steel gauntlets around its feet.

_They had another ally?!_ "Why are you just staring at that wolf?" The familiar didn't respond. Rather, she airwalked towards the blue wolf, the blue wolf copying her, until they were right in front of each other. Then, something very, _very _odd happened: the two wolves sniffed each other's butts.

_Huh?! _Arf then went back into her hybrid form while the blue wolf transformed into a dark-skinned man with spiky white hair and animalistic features. _Is this guy a familiar, too?_

"You've got a lot of nerve being here, Zafira," Arf said with a scowl.

"Why is _that_, Arf?" The man asked in a voice that, to Yuuno, sounded similar to Nanoha's dad.

_Did they… did they learn each other's names by sniffing each other's butts?! _Yuuno thought in disbelief.

"This is _my _territory, Zafira!" Arf exclaimed. "Didn't you smell my urine on everything?!"

"I smelt urine," Zafira started, "but I covered it with _my own_."

"?" Arf sniffed the air and gained a look of shock while Zafira smirked. "You bastard! ...Wait…" Arf sniffed the air again. "Aha! That bus bench is clean! I'm claiming it!" Arf zipped towards the bench.

"The hell you are!" Zafira shouted, flying after her.

_...WHAT THE HELL?! _Yuuno thought. _...Guess I'm destroying the Barrier, by myself._

* * *

Fate and Chrono were not having an easy time. Despite the seeming advantage of 2v1, Signum seemed able to hold her own against them with incredible ease, the female Knight barely having a scratch on her.

"**Ken Hifuku**(Sword and Sheath)!" Signum shouted as Fate came at her with Bardiche while Chrono fired an **Impact Cannon. **She quickly drew Laevatein and removed his sheath from her hip, using the former to block Fate's attack(simultaneously cracking Bardiche's core) and the latter to deflect Chrono's. After **Impact Cannon **faded, Signum threw her sheath so it would get stuck in Chrono's jacket and pin him to a building and kicked Fate in the stomach to knock her aside.

"I don't think I got your name."

"Testarossa," Fate said, clutching her stomach. "Fate Testarossa."

"Your speed is very remarkable, Testarossa; it's taking nearly everything I have to keep up. However, like I mentioned earlier, speed, alone, isn't reliable. A true warrior should have a steady balance of offense, defense, _and _speed! You may be fast, but with one good hit…" Signum zipped over to Fate and kicked her left side, bringing her to her knees, "you shatter as if you're made of glass.

"As for you, son of Clyde…" Signum turned to Chrono with a glare, "you're even worse than Testarossa."

"What?!" Chrono shouted.

"That man was a true warrior who pushed me to my absolute limits. You, however, are simply average, at best!" Signum then flew towards the still immobile Chrono.

_Now! _"**Delayed Bind!**" Chains shot out of the air underneath Signum and bound her tight, her arms especially tight to her sides. "I set that up while you were talking to Fate, earlier. Now surrender quietly, and you and your friends just might-"

"**Explosion,**" Laevatein said, a rifle shell flying out of him. "**Schlangeform. Schlangebeißen Schneiden**(Biting Snake Cut)." Multiple lines appeared on Laevatein, dividing the blade into sections. Each section then separated, turning the blade into something like a chain-whip. The chain-whip then spun around Signum's body, slicing the chains of Chrono's **Delayed Bind** into nothing.

"!"

"The fact that you think a simple bind can end things merely supports my statement." Signum them spun her body around in a circle and wrapped both Fate and Chrono in her chain-whip.

"**Schlangebeißen Yo-Yo**(Biting Snake Yo-Yo)." Laevatein uncoiled and slammed the two mages into a building. However, before either could move away, the chain-whip wrapped around them once more and brought them back to Signum, only for them to be slammed once more and the process to repeat, as such.

* * *

**Meanwhile, with Arf and Zafira**

Despite Zafira's best efforts, Arf got to the bench first and claimed it as her own. After that, the two started barking at each other(they were still in their hybrid forms, so they just shouted random bits of vulgarity), but after a few minutes, the two started talking. Zafira admitted that he shouldn't have gone over Arf's territory, but Arf, being nice, decided to split Uminari with him.

"...and I get the candy store on 3rd.," Arf said as she and Zafira looked over a map of the city.

"Alright, then," Zafira said. "Next is the park."

"I love the park! You can run around on the grass, everyone pets you, and there's tons of squirrels to eat! A little too many for one person, though…"

"I would _gladly _help you with eating those squirrels, Arf."

"Great!"

_...And that is why the Barrier is taking so long to destroy, _Yuuno thought to Chrono as the Enforcer asked him why things were taking so long.

* * *

**Meanwhile, with Nanoha**

_This isn't good… _Nanoha thought as she watched Signum repeatedly pound into Fate and Chrono. _At this rate… _Ignoring the pain in her body, Nanoha stepped forward out of the **Round Guarder Extend**, pointed Raging Heart towards the sky, and activated **Shooting Mode: Acceleration,** an upgrade Nanoha had made to her Device over the last six months that combined the functions of **Shooting Mode **and **Sealing Mode. **Nanoha did it because she didn't see the use of **Sealing Mode **now that the Jewel Seeds were gone, and this made her able to use her strongest attack, **Starlight Breaker, **with Raging Heart's main mode of combat.

"Raging Heart, I'm sorry to put you through this in your current state, but…"

"**I can manage,**" Raging Heart said. "**Please shoot, Master.**"

_You're lying. I know you're lying, but you're still… thank you, Raging Heart. _"Countdown!" Cherry blossom mana particles started to gather in a large ball.

"**X. IX. VIII. VII. VI. V. IV. III. III. III. III-**"

"Raging Heart!"

"**I'm fine. Count III. II.**" Ignoring her Device's obvious lie, Nanoha lifted Raging Heart up above her head.

Then… everything felt odd. Even the other mages could feel it, as the battlefield fell to a standstill with everyone turning towards Nanoha. The girl of the hour looked down and saw something shocking: an arm sticking out of her stomach.

* * *

Several buildings away from there, Shamal, the "culprit", was using her signature **Mirror of Travels** to stick her arm through Nanoha.

"Oops! A little too low!" Shamal said. She pulled her arm out of the celadon portal that lay before her, then stuck it back in at a slightly higher altitude. Over with Nanoha, Shamal's arm was now through her chest, clutching the small orb that was her Linker Core.

"Book-san!" From behind Shamal flew over the Book of Darkness. The wicked tool opened itself in front of the portal as Shamal put a hand on it. "Capture Linker Core. Begin collection."

"**Sammel**(Collecting)," the Book said. In an instant, page after page of the book started to become filled with text.

* * *

_What… what is this…? _Nanoha thought as her magic was being sucked out of her body. _I don't even…_

_Hurry and fire, _a strange voice said. It sounded like Nanoha's, but deeper, and a little sickening.

_? Who's-_

_Your Linker Core is being drained. Hurry and fire while you still have magic._

_But-_

_Why are you questioning me? Don't you want to save your friends?!_

_Y-Yes…_

_Then hurry up! Fire your attack! Destroy the Barrier! _An arm came into view. It was clad in a black opera glove, and the hand seemed to be using what looked like half of a purple pair of scissors to point at the Barrier. _Break through the walls of conformity and carve a path to the future!_

… Nanoha didn't know what this person meant by that last part, but she definitely needed to act right then and there.

"**Count 0,**" Raging Heart said.

"**Starlight… Breaker… PLUS!**" Nanoha slammed her staff against the ball of mana with all of her might. As soon as contact was made, a giant beam was fired towards the sky that tore apart everything in its path, including the Barrier.

"There…" The arm vanished from Nanoha's body. "That should… do… it…" Nanoha dropped Raging Heart and collapsed to the ground, the last thing she saw before losing consciousness being Fate rushing towards her… and the opera glove-clad arm twirling the purple half of a scissor.

* * *

**Meanwhile, ?**

"Tell me, child… what stage is your moon in, right now?" A voice called out. The scene was the inside of a large manor. Moonlight provided the only illumination to a room, revealing its only occupant to be a little girl gazing at the sky.

"It's a full moon, Father," the girl responded.

"Beautiful. The moon here is only in the waxing crescent. I feel rather envious of you, child."

"If you're so envious, then come home."

"You know I can't do that, child. What do you need me around for, anyway? You have your sister, your maids, your friends; my absence should be but a minor inconvenience."

"...That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Father. The last one, I mean."

"So _that's _why you contacted me through **Tonuri de întuneric**(Dark Calling). What's the problem, child?"

"My friend, the one I told you about… I want to help her."

"...You know our clan's policy of getting involved with the world."

"I know, Father, but… I felt her go down. _Hard_. Before, I didn't do anything because it seemed like she could handle it, but now… she's up against something that might be too much for her. I… I don't want to be a bystander if it means someone I like will die!"

"...Always soft towards the humans, just like with 'that one' from two years ago. ...Speaking of 'that one', if you're going to fight, then the blood within her will boil; she'll be forced to participate."

"That's fine…she really hates being left out of things, you know!"

"Hmph. Very well, my child; you have my permission to no longer be a bystander to the events of the world. Remember, though, that you carry with you the strength of the Lună Sat(Moon Village); don't tarnish it." There was silence, once more, but the girl could feel that the connection was lost.

"I won't, Father. This time, it's _my _turn to be the strong one."

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

**Pie: What was that thing talking to Nanoha? I mean, besides a few Actor Allusions.**

**Fox: All in due time.**

**Pie: And that girl at the end?**

**Fox: I think I've made it rather obvious. There's enough hints to allow anyone to get it.**

**Pie: I beg to differ.**

**Fox: I differ with your differ! Anyone who gets the girl's identity right wins a virtual cookie!**

**Pie: So nothing of value?**

**Fox: There's pride in knowing you were smarter than some people.**

**Pie: ...So nothing of value?**


	11. Each and Everyone's Best Place, Nano

**Fox: College+Tests+Laziness=Lateness. This is the formula that explains slow updates. Memorize it, as it will be on the next test.**

**Pie: By that, we mean thank you for being patient with us.**

**Fox: In other news, I just found out the other day that Shamal and Satsuki from Kill la Kill have the same seiyuu; words cannot accurately express how awesome I find that to be.**

**Pie: With that done, it's on to the chapter!**

**Fox: P.S. Get ready for a large amount of info dumping and world building.**

* * *

**The following is a non-profit fanfic. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its respective spin-offs are all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, Gakken, Kadokawa Shoten, and Masaki Tsuzuki. Please support the official release.**

* * *

_"You got beat,"_ the voice said.

"I know," Nanoha replied.

_"Rather pathetic."_

"I know."

"Embarrassing, _actually."_

"Can we _please_ stop pointing out things I already know?! Who are you, anyway?!"

_"Me?"_ A person suddenly appeared in front of Nanoha. It was a girl who, based on her height, was several years older than Nanoha. She had long, raven-colored hair, and wore a black gothic lolita dress. On her left ear was a black ear cuff with a dark purple rhombus-shaped jewel hanging off of it and stared at Nanoha with incredibly baggy purple eyes.

_"Isn't it obvious? I'm_ you. _Or, rather, everything you_ couldn't _be."_

"?! Wha-"

_"You'll truly understand the blessing that is me…"_ The girl held out her right hand and in it appeared the purple half of a scissor Nanoha had seen earlier, _"when you feel the need to rebel."_ Then, without warning, the girltook the half scissor and ran in through Nanoha's stomach like it was a sword.

"Aaa… Aaaa… AAAAAA-"

* * *

"AAAH!" Nanoha jolted awake, her body covered in sweat and her breathing coming out in hectic pants.

_A dream… it was just a dream,_ Nanoha assured herself. _...Right?_

"Are you alright?"

"?" Nanoha turned to see that the person speaking to her was a concerned-looking Fate Testarossa.

"Fate-chan… I'm fine. I just… had a nightmare…" That was most likely the truth, but Nanoha wasn't too sure. "Where are we, Fate-chan?" Nanoha was looking around and saw that she was in what looked like a hospital room, her knowing what one looked like from her father's hospitalization, and she was wearing a hospital gown.

"The Time-Space Administration Bureau Headquarters; you've been out for a few hours, now."

"I have? Wait… this is the Bureau's headquarters? So, are we on, what was it called… Mid-Childa?"

"No, we're actually still in the Dimensional Sea. In fact, the TSAB Headquarters sits at the _exact_ center of the multiverse."

"Really?!"

"Yes… give or take fifty feet."

"?" Nanoha felt that it would have been cooler if Fate didn't say that last part. "My Linker Core… was drained, right?"

"It was. Not only that, but both of our Devices were broken… but don't worry! Raging Heart and Bardiche will be fixed in no time! Not only that, but you're young, so your Linker Core w be able to fight again in about a week!"

"Oh… What happened after I lost consciousness?"

"? Well, I, in complete control of my emotions, calmly escaped my enemy's clutches and went to assist you. Again, very calmly."

* * *

**Earlier, in Uminari City**

"NANOHAAAAA!" What Fate said, of course, was a lie. After watching Nanoha fall, Fate went into a great panic over the thought that her friend might be dead. Her emotions in a frenzy, magic erupted from Fate's body, sending a charge of electricity out that shocked Signum and Chrono via metallic conduction and caused the former to accidentally undo her Schlangebeißen Yo-Yo, allowing Fate to fly over to her friend.

"Get back here!" Signum shouted. She prepared to fire off a Kūga, but Chrono stopped her by flying behind her and slamming S2U into her gut.

"...Kisama(Bastard)..." Signum cursed with a glare.

_Language #2?_ Chrono thought to himself, confused as to why Signum stopped speaking language #1. As he thought this, he couldn't help but tremble a little at Signum's ferocious stare.

* * *

_Disengage, Signum!_ Shamal told her via Telepathy. _Now that the Barrier is down, the Bureau will be able to find us, so we need to leave!_

_But…_ Signum thought back.

_I know you want to finish this fight, but that's not what we're here for, remember? Nanoha-chan already gave us a lot of pages, so that's enough, for now; save the conclusion of this fight for when you inevitably fight him, again!_

_...Fine._ "It appears that luck's on your side, son of Clyde." Signum held out her left hand, causing Laevatein's sheath to fly into it. The Knight then placed the sheath on her left hip and her sword inside of it. "It is time for us to make our leave. When we meet again, do try to put up a fight, as opposed to whatever this was." A purple Ancient Belkan magic circle appeared beneath Signum's feet. A second later, she had vanished, clearly having cast a teleportation spell.

"Hey!" was all Chrono managed to say before she vanished.

* * *

"I think it's time for me to go," Zafira said to Arf. "Don't eat all those squirrels without me."

"I won't!" Arf said with a smile as Zafira teleported out of sight.

"...Arf…" Yuuno began. "...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

"I made a friend! We're gonna get free food by flashing our big eyes and chase mailmen that we may or may not like!"

"That's… I don't…" Both of Yuuno's hands were pressed against his face, but even that couldn't accurately convey how stupid he thought Arf was being. "Let's just go to Nanoha."

* * *

_Now to get Vita-chan,_ Shamal thought. _**Pendelschlag.**_ The pendulums that extended from the rings on Shamal's right hand shot out towards the **Round Guarder** protecting Vita and shattered it. The pendulums then wrapped themselves around Vita's body and enveloped her in a celadon glow.

_Time to go!_ In an instant, Shamal and Vita were gone.

* * *

After the Wolkenritter departed, Fate, Chrono, Yuuno, and Arf were all at the rooftop Nanoha lost consciousness on, Fate cradling Nanoha in her arms and calling out her name, repeatedly.

"Get a hold of yourself, Fate!" Arf shouted as she slapped Yuuno across the face.

"Why did you slap_ me_?!" Yuuno yelled.

"That's what you do in this situation, right?"

"_Fate's_ the one freaking out! Slap _her_!"

"I'm not slapping my Master! Are you crazy?!" Arf then started slapping Yuuno repeatedly. "Nanoha will be fine, Fate! She's just unconscious! She'll wake up in a few hours, and then we'll all come up with a plan to beat those guys, so calm down!"

"Please calm down!"

"...Okay…" Fate said, her voice sounding noticeably calmer. After that, Arf slapped Yuuno one more time.

"She calmed down!"

"But it's kinda fun abusing you for absolutely no good reason," Arf said.

"Huh?!"

* * *

**Present**

"And that's exactly what happened," Fate said, glossing over some of the more emotional details. "...I hate to do this, but Chrono said that I'm to take you to meet with him and some other people after you wake up. Your clothes are under your bed, so we'll go after your dressed." Fate got up from her seat and headed for the door to give Nanoha her privacy.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha called out, making the blonde stop. "You… Fate-chan… you're _my_ best friend, too!"

"...!" A touch of crimson appeared on Fate's face as she remembered calling Nanoha her best friend in the heat of the moment when Vita begged for forgiveness. Neither girl had called the other anything more than a friend before, and while Fate felt that way about Nanoha, she always assumed she was just one of Nanoha's_ friends_ and one of those girls she had told her about, Alisa Bannings or Suzuka Tsukimura, already had the honor of being her best friend. To actually hear Nanoha confirm that these feeling were reciprocal made Fate turn back around and, with a smile, say, "Thank you."

* * *

After getting changed, Nanoha was led by Fate to the room they were instructed to go to. Standing up in the room was Chrono, out of his Barrier Jacket, for a change, and sitting on one of the couches were two people that neither girl recognized. One was an old man wearing a Dimensional Navy uniform, and the other was a young-looking woman with long, blonde hair who was wearing a black dress.

"Glad to see that you're alright, Nanoha," Chrono said. He had his trademark stoic expression, but Nanoha could tell that his words were sincere. "I hate to immediately throw you into work after that battle, but this is one of the biggest crises the Bureau ever has to deal with, so it's important that you're caught up ASAP."

_Is this…_ _Is this really_ that _big?_ Nanoha thought as she and Fate sat down on the couch opposite of the adults.

"I, Admiral Lindy Harlaown, and Ensign Amy Limietta have been assigned by headquarters to lead a team of operatives in the latest Book of Darkness incident. Assisting us are the two people you see before, Admiral Gil Graham and the head of the Church of the Sankt Kaiser, Major General Carim Gracia."

"'Ello, Nanoha-kun, Fate-kun," Graham said with a British accent.

"Hallo, fraulein(Hello, young ladies)," Carim said.

"? Are you two from Space England and Space Germany?" Nanoha asked.

"No, I'm not from Space England; I'm from Earth, just like you," Graham said with a chuckle. Nanoha had a look of shock on her face in response to that formed from both the knowledge that there were other Earth mages and the weirdness of there being a Space England.

"What's Space Germany?" Carim asked. Once again, Nanoha was shocked, but this time out of confusion as to why there isn't a Space Germany when there's a Space England.

"Anyway!" Chrono interjected. "Normally, the Asura's crew, alone, would be enough for a mission of this caliber, but Admiral Harlaown and I thought that their assistance would be useful to us, Admiral Graham because of his… involvement in the last Book of Darkness incident, and Major General Gracia because of her extensive knowledge of Ancient Belka. The reason they're talking to you two, specifically, is that the Admiral has been instructed to give the Bureau final confirmation on whether or not Fate can be trusted and the Major General wishes to fill Nanoha in on things regarding Belka, as ferret boy apparently neglected that."

* * *

"ATCHOO!" Yuuno sneezed as he and Arf sat with the Asura's crew in the headquarters' war-room, waiting for the mission briefing to start.

* * *

"Fate-kun, do you promise to use your powers solely to protect those who can't protect themselves, your allies in arms, and your friends?" Graham asked.

"Yes," Fate said without a second of hesitation.

"Alright, then. I'll tell the higher-ups they have nothing to worry about."

"? After just that?"

"I can tell just by looking at you that you're not lying. Not only that, but you didn't hesitate, which shows your conviction; someone like you can definitely be trusted."

"Thank you, sir."

"Now then, Carim-san, I believe you wanted to explain some things to Nanoha-kun?"

"Are you going to tell me why you and Vita-chan speak German?" Nanoha asked.

"'German'?" Carim repeated. "Oh! You must mean language #3!"

"What?"

"Across the Administrated worlds, there are three primary languages: language #1, language #2, and language #3; I believe they're referred to as 'English', 'Japanese', and 'German', on your planet, respectively."

"Really? How?" Nanoha did always find the fact that all of the mages she knew spoke English, like they were speaking now, to be weird, and she figured Japanese was the same since Fate, Yuuno, and Arf could each speak it(for some reason, Fate only spoke to Nanoha in Japanese), but now Carim was saying that _every single mage_ spoke English, Japanese, _and_ German?

"First, let me tell you a bit about the history of the multiverse." Carim made an HUD appear before her. On the HUD were several shapes of varying sizes, most of them small, but the biggest ones were two shapes labeled as "Yamato" and "Belka", the former a bit smaller than the latter.

"What is this?"

"This is a map of the multiverse about 1000 years ago, not counting Non-administrated worlds. The multiverse was divided into various kingdoms made up of either a single planet or a multitude of planets, the most prominent ones being the kingdoms of Yamato and Belka. Generally, the kingdoms got along with one another, and they were able to peacefully coexist… until Belka got greedy."

"'Greedy'?"

"Yes. Out of all the kingdoms, Belka was the most powerful and the most technologically advanced, and this made them want even _more_ power and want to be even _more_ advanced. When their greed could be contained no longer, they launched an attack on Yamato and took over the entire kingdom, starting what would span hundreds of years of war over the control of the universe that would come to be called the Warring States Period."

"So… Belka tried to take over the multiverse?"

"They did. The Belkans would've done it, too, if their empire didn't collapse 800 years later due to them losing the ability to control their own technology. When that happened, what was left of Belka split into various factions, each one vying for control of the multiverse. Not only that, but Belka's greed became infectious, inspiring other nations to try their hand at conquest."

"Then, even though Belka fell apart, we just got _more_ warmongers?"

"Indeed. ...However, one family stood apart from the rest. This family wanted to take control of the multiverse, but not for imperialistic reasons. No, this family sought to unite the war-torn planets in a peaceful society and put an end to all the fighting; it is because of this noble selflessness that the leaders of that family was called Sankt Kaisers, or 'Holy Emperors'. This last part of the Warring States Period is commonly known as the 'Sankt Kaiser Unification War'.

"For 200 years, the Sankt Kaisers, the Sägebrecht family, fought to unify the multiverse, and with the power of the last Sankt Kaiser and strongest mage in history, Olivie Sägebrecht, the Unification War ended, and with it, the Time-Space Administration Bureau was officially established to unite the multiverse in peaceful harmony and maintain said harmony to this very day."

"Wow… wait, what does this have to do with language?"

"? Oh, right, we were talking about that. The primary languages are what they are because 'English' was the language of the people who first assisted the Sägebrecht family 140 years ago and would go on to form the TSAB, 'Japanese' to honor the fallen kingdom of Yamato, and 'German' as… appeasement."

"'Appeasement'?"

"...After the Unification War, the people and planets that were originally Belkan were stripped of that part of their identity to try and erase all traces of the war. This, of course, outraged those who took pride in being Belkan, especially those who were never even involved in the fighting. To this day, no one is still 'officially' acknowledged as Belkan, but when protests started getting violent, the government made Belkan, or 'German', official language #3, hoping it would calm them down. It did calm the masses, but anger still persists to this very day."

"That's… really sad."

"It is… do you have other questions, Frau(Ms.) Nanoha?"

"Well… why do you all speak the same languages that are spoken on Earth?"

"Hmmm… I don't really have an answer for that. Since you brought it up, historians and linguists have always wondered why a Non-administrated world such as yours has people speaking all of our languages, even dead languages that fell into obscurity after the Warring States Period. There isn't one definitive answer, but those who study the subject have grown to come to one unanimous conclusion."

"And that is…?"

"It's a coincidence."

"...Really?" Carim nodded her head. "Really?" Graham nodded his head. "Really?" Chrono nodded his head. "Really?" Fate nodded her head. "How?!"

"Think of it this way, Frau Nanoha: is there any proof that we're actually saying words, right now?"

"Huh?! We're having a conversation!"

"Our brains are _perceiving_ a conversation. I can see how the sounds I'm making might seem like speech to you, and if that's the case, how can you be sure that the sounds coming out of me mean the same as the words you think I'm saying? It might be gibberish, you know."

"But we're having a conversation! That's proof that you understand what I'm saying, isn't it?"

"It's possible that these sounds only _happen_ to sound like answers to your questions. Just because I reply to you doesn't mean I know what I'm talking about."

"So, basically, what you're saying is that even if two people are talking, it doesn't mean they're actually having a conversation?"

"You know that's true. Even if two people are in a conversation and believe they understand each other, there's no guarantee they're truly expressing the ideas behind the words they're using. It's this possible coincidence that is used to explain why the Administrated worlds and your world use the same languages."

"That's ridiculous!"

"She makes some good points, Nanoha," Fate said.

"...Maybe she does."

"Do you have any other questions, Frau Nanoha?" Carim asked. Nanoha nodded her head in response. "Okay, then. I think I know what your questions are about, but I think Herr(Mr.) Chrono will be covering them in the mission briefing. Speaking of which, we should probably start that."

"Indeed," Chrono said. "If we're all done here, let's not keep the crew waiting, any longer." With that, everyone left the room and headed for the war-room.

* * *

**A few minutes later, on Earth**

In the centuries that Vita had been alive for, she had been put into many dangerous situations. The Knight of the Iron Hammer has been captured by enemy forces to be tortured for information, forced into combat with mages twice as powerful as her, and she's even been trapped inside an AMF with giant beasts all geared to eat her and her powerless allies. However, for some reason, Vita felt that her current situation was more troublesome than any other.

When Vita awoke from her unconscious state, she found herself in the bed that she and Hayate share.

"Vita…"

"What are you doing?!"

She also found her Master on top of her. Naked.

"I'm your Master, Vita. You have… _obligations_ to fulfill," Hayate said with a smile.

_This is_ clearly _a dream!_ Vita assured herself. _But the fact that I'm having a dream like this means… means…_

"Vita… Vita…"

* * *

"Vita!" Hayate yelled, snapping Vita out of her dream. The redhead's eyes flew open and her body immediately straightened up, her head moving around to survey everything. "Are you okay, baby? You were tossing and turning and sweating a ton!" Just like in the dream, Vita was in her and Hayate's room, their bed, specifically, but there was one thing that helped Vita figure out that this wasn't a dream.

"You're wearing clothes. Good," Vita said with a sigh of relief.

"Why wouldn't I be, baby?"

"N-N-N-No reason!" The redness of Vita's face completely overshadowed her hair's red. "Wh-Where is everyone? When did I get back here?"

"Well, Shamal said that she got a call from the senior center saying that you fell asleep there," Vita recalled that that was the lie she gave Hayate for tonight's hunt, an addition to it being Zafira coming along, "so they went there after buying me new needles, picked you up, and tucked you into bed. Right now, Shamal's taking a bath, Signum and Zafira are in the living room, and I've just been lying here after a few hours of work."

"Is that so?" _I gotta remember to thank Shamal for covering up for… for tonight…_ The memories of the last few hours were starting to come back to Vita, and she felt ashamed of herself. For her to get trounced so easily was utterly embarrassing. Not only that, but…

"...I'm sorry, Hayate. I… your hat…"

"What about your hat? Do you want me to get it off the hatrack, baby?"

"...What?"

"Your hat. It's on the hatrack."

"It is?!"

"Where else would it be?"

_Shamal must've found it! It wasn't destroyed by Nantoka, and Shamal found it!_ Vita then surprised Hayate by pulling her into a teary embrace. _Danke Gott_(Thank God)_... danke Gott… danke Gott…_

"Vita, I get that you're happy, for some reason, but please stop crying! You're getting tears in my hair, and who knows what salt will do to my precious roots, baby!"

* * *

"Why, exactly, weren't you fighting, Zafira?" Signum asked Zafira, the latter in his wolf form.

"I made a friend," Zafira said, wagging his tail.

"You made… a friend."

"I did."

"With one of our enemies."

"That's right."

"...Are you insane?"

"I'll have you know that Arf is a perfectly fine bitch, Signum. When we get the chance, we're going to the park to eat squirrels."

"No, no you're not. Eating squirrels with our enemies, doing _anything_ with our enemies, outside of defeating them, does _nothing_ for the sake of our Master."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Zafira rolled his eyes at this. I'm getting tired of hearing her say stuff like that… "How are your injuries holding up?" Zafira then started to chew on his crotch.

"They'll heal, but I must say…" Signum lifted up her shirt a bit to reveal a cut and a bruise on her stomach, "that Testarossa girl is better than I thought she would be. Now that she's felt the sting of defeat, Testarossa will surely become even better by the next time we fight."

"That Enforcer, too," Zafira said, taking a break from chewing his crotch to rub his butt across the floor.

"What?" Signum looked down at her stomach and noticed the bruise by her cut. "...He left a bruise…? ...KUSO(Dammit)! Clyde no musuko no yarou(Son of Clyde, you bastard)! Ano yowamushi ga…(That weakling…)!"

_Signum, language,_ Shamal said into her mind from the bathroom.

_...Sorry. I lost myself, for a moment._

_It's alright. Now, why don't you join me in the bath?_

_...Very well._ Signum stood up and headed towards the bathroom.

_Homo sapiens and their mating rituals…_ Zafira thought to himself as he continued to scoot across the floor.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the center of the multiverse(give or take fifty feet)**

The majority of all people who were going to be involved with the Book of Darkness incident of 0065 were gathered in the Bureau Headquarters' war-room. Said people were the Asura's crew, Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno, Arf, Chrono, Amy, Graham, and Carim. Chrono, Amy, Graham, and Carim were standing in front of Nanoha, her friends, and the crew. The only one who was missing was Lindy, still sleeping off her hangover from the drinking she was doing before.

"As you all have heard, the Book of Darkness has once again resurfaced and bestowed itself upon a new Meister," Chrono said. "With this confirmed, the cases of agents and large animals being drained of their Linker Cores since October are being assumed to be because of this, so it's estimated that at least 300 pages have been accumulated. For those unfamiliar with what I'm talking about," Chrono looked at Nanoha when he said this, "the Book of Darkness is a weapon made during the Warring States Period that absorbs Linker Cores. When it absorbs enough Linker Cores to fill its 666 pages, the Book's Meister is granted monstrous power that can very easily shatter the established peace of the multiverse; obviously, we can't let this happen. No matter what… we _can't_!" Chrono seemed to say that last part with a lot of emotion.

"Because we confirmed the Book's resurrection in Nanoha-kun's hometown, a small recon team led by Admiral Harlaown will be sent there to try and locate them," Graham said. "These are the people everyone must look out for, based on the late Admiral Clyde Harlaown's notes:" Four HUD screens appeared in front of Graham, each one having a picture of Signum, Vita, Shamal, and Zafira.

"These four people are the Wolkenritter, the Guardian Knights of the Book of Darkness," Carim said. "They are Artificial Mages created by the Book to assist it in the absorption of Linker Cores.

"The sole male is Zafira, the Shielding Guardian Beast/Blue Wolf, presumably A+ to AA-rank. Zafira uses Strike Arts, magical martial arts, and while his animalistic features would make him appear to be a familiar, Zafira identifies himself as a 'guardian beast'. Anyone who fights him should do their best to keep at a distance, as he is dangerous at close-range."

_Cool!_ Arf thought with a smile.

"The blonde woman is Shamal, the Knight of the Lake, presumably AA+-rank. Her Device, a set of rings that can shoot pendulums, is Klarwind, the Hand of the Healing Wind, and it, like the other ones, is an Armed Device, meaning that its user prioritizes physical, close-range damage, as opposed to our long-range Storage and Intelligent Devices. Shamal seems to be the group's healer, so there isn't much to go on in regards to her combat strength.

"The short one is Vita, the Knight of the Iron Hammer, presumably AAA+-rank."

_So she's stronger than me…_ Nanoha thought to herself. _But just barely! I can catch up to her!_

"Her Device, a hammer, is Graf Eisen, the Iron Count. Unlike Klarwind, Graf Eisen uses a Cartridge System, a Device Upgrade that allows Armed Devices to use small capsules called 'Cartridges' to increase the Device's power. Vita has a short temper and uses spells with short and long-range, so anyone who goes against her should simply try to overpower her and end the battle fast.

"Finally, we have the leader of the Wolkenritter, Signum, the Knight of the Sword/General of Raging Fire, presumably S- -rank. Her Device, a sword, is Laevatein, the Demon Blade of Flame; like Graf Eisen, it has a Cartridge System. Signum is completely level-headed, extremely powerful, and can fight from any distance. If anyone finds themselves fighting her, run away as fast as possible. Out of the main fighters, only the magic of Herr Chrono, Herr Yuuno, Frau Nanoha, Frau Fate, and Frau Arf is in the A range, so only one of them could last against Signum."

"Regardless, our objective isn't defeating the Wolkenritter; it's capturing the Meister of the Book," Chrono said. "The Meister is somewhere in Uminari City, so we need to capture hir and destroy the Book to put an end to this! Understood?"

"Yes!" Everyone said, simultaneously.

"Excellent!"

* * *

After the meeting, everyone dispersed to various locations. The agents who would be on standby went back to work while those who would be on the recon team started packing. Fate, though, was approaching Chrono and Amy with a question.

"If it's about why _I_ didn't say anything at the meeting, it's because Chrono-kun wouldn't let me," Amy said.

"You would've messed up," Chrono said. "You're terrible in front of crowds. Remember the fiasco that was the academy graduation speech?"

"It wasn't _that_ bad!"

"At one point, you just started cursing over and over again."

"I was being dramatic!"

"Can we get back to me, now?" Fate asked. "I was told that Arf and I would be on the recon team, but when I looked at the listing, we weren't on it." Yuuno wasn't there, either, but Fate didn't care, as much.

"That list is only for the people living in the house my mother purchased," Chrono said. "You, Arf, and Yuuno will be somewhere else."

"Where?"

"Nanoha-chan's house, of course!" Amy said with a smile.

"...WHAT?!"

"We already called her parents and they're perfectly fine with having you stay over! Not only that, but we managed to get you and Yuuno-kun enrolled in Nanoha-chan's school!"

"...That's… I..."

"You do want to do that, right?"

"...Of course. That home… it's the only one I want to be in."

* * *

**Meanwhile, in the Yagami House**

Not long after Vita regained consciousness, she, along with Hayate and the rest of the Wolkenritter, soon went to sleep. While Hayate slept, though, the Book of Darkness floated a bit above her silent form.

_Meister Hayate…_ the Will of the Book of Darkness said to herself, as she was unable to speak to anyone in this form. _You don't know it, but you're dying… and it's because of me. My Guardian Knights think that they can save you by completing me, but they're wrong. Once I'm completed, you'll be… destroyed, and I will destroy everything in my wake. I'm the only one who knows this, but I don't have the power to say it! Scheiße!_

_...There is hope, though. My Guardian Knights have gained new opponents, and they seem to be able to fight them on even ground. Maybe… maybe those ones can help us. Maybe they can help us find a way to save you… so that I can…_

"Mrmmrmm…" Hayate let out a small groan in her sleep and started moving her right arm towards the air. As if she already knew where to go, Hayate's arm connected with the floating Book and brought it down to her body, squeezing it very tightly to her chest.

_...So that I can let you keep your promise to protect me... and so I can keep the promise to protect you… to always be with you... my wonderful Meister…_

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

**Fox: I probably confused some of you with that language stuff, so let me lay out who speaks what and when. Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno, and Arf speak Japanese when they're alone or in Japan, but they switch to English when they're around Bureau agents(Fate, though, only speaks to Nanoha in Japanese). The Wolkenritter and Reinforce speak Japanese around Hayate, English to Bureau agents, and German when they're alone or don't want Hayate to know what they're talking about, as her German is still rusty.**

**Pie: I betcha people will still be confused.**

**Fox: Probably. Next time, the Takamachis welcome their guests, Fate meets her worst enemy, and Nanoha learns something shocking about her friends! See ya then!**


End file.
